News Article 2

Title: Eating berries may slow brain's decline: study

Summary

Women who eat plenty of blueberries and strawberries experience slower mental decline with age than women who consume fewer of the flavonoid-rich fruits, a US study said.

Flavonoid - A large group of water- soluble plant pigments that are beneficial to health.

Based on a survey of more than 16,000 women who filled out regular questionnaires on their health habits from 1976 through 2001, the findings showed that those who ate the most berries delayed cognitive decline by up to 2.5 years.

Cognitive - mental processes of perception, memory, judgment, and reasoning

Every two years from 1995 to 2001, researchers measured mental function in subjects over age 70, according to the study published.

These findings have significant public health implications as increasing berry intake is a fairly simple dietary modification to test cognition protection in older adults.

It is also of particular importance to the aging population, which is on the rise.

Why did this article appeal to me?

Firstly, it was the title that appealed to me. I find that this was quite an interesting article to share. After reading the article, I was amazed by the fact that by eating berries, it can slow down our brains’ rate of decline. As such, we do not need to relay so much on the health supplements which may cause side effects in the future.

Since the numbers of people who are more health conscious are increasing rapidly, this finding is of great help to them as they can just take more berries instead of spending large sum of money buying supplements.

Question for the writer

Other than berries, are they any other fruits or vegetables that could contribute greatly to our health?

If I were in charge

I would lower the prices of all the fruits and vegetables that are of great help to the human body so that consumers would be able to buy more of it as it is affordable. In this way, people will be able to lead a healthier lifestyle at a low cost of living.

By: Koh Yi Xin (11)