Scientists have added to our understanding of why eating blueberries, strawberries and acai berries help to keep us Sensual and Superyoung, with primed for living brains. Shibu Poulose, Ph.D., lead researcher who presented the report before the American Chemical Society (ACS), concluded that berries and possibly walnuts, activate the brain’s natural “housekeeper” mechanism. Berries flip the switch that cleans up and recycles toxic proteings linked to age-related memory loss and other mental decline.

Earlier research on berries focused on their fight against inflammation and oxidative damage. Berries are particularly rich in natural compounds called polyphenolics, found in fruits, vegetables and nuts. In past studies, old lab rats fed for two months on diets containing 2 percent high-antioxidant strawberry, blueberry, or blackberry extract showed a reversal of age-related deficits in nerve function and learning and remembering functionality.

The new research focuses on the process called autophagy, in which cells called microglia remove and recycle biochemical debris that left untended would interfere with brain functions.