ArticleBMC medicine2021
Increased habitual flavonoid intake predicts attenuation of cognitive ageing in twins.
Article in BMC medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- A combined DHA-rich fish oil and cocoa flavanols intervention does not improve cognition or brain structure in older adults with memory complaints: results from the CANN randomized, controlled parallel-design study.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2023Trial
- The Impact of Purple-Flesh Potato (Nutrients · 2022Trial
- Interaction between air pollution and diet on cognitive function in schoolchildren.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Flavonoids in Plants and Human Health: From Biosynthesis to Neurodevelopmental and Neurodegenerative Disorders.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- High diversity of dietary flavonoid intake is associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality and major chronic diseases.Nature food · 2025Article
- Prevalence, motivations, lifestyle preferences, and basic health behavior among 1,350 vegan, vegetarian, and omnivorous Austrian school teachers and principals.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Dietary flavonoid intake is negatively associated with accelerating aging: an American population-based cross-sectional study.Nutrition journal · 2024Article
- Article
- The Neuroprotective Flavonoids Sterubin and Fisetin Maintain Mitochondrial Health under Oxytotic/Ferroptotic Stress and Improve Bioenergetic Efficiency in HT22 Neuronal Cells.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Chronic and postprandial effect of blueberries on cognitive function, alertness, and mood in participants with metabolic syndrome - results from a six-month, double-blind, randomized controlled trial.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2024Article
- Diet patterns and cognitive performance in a UK Female Twin Registry (TwinsUK).Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2024Article
- Flavonoid-Rich Fruit Intake in Midlife and Late-Life and Associations with Risk of Dementia: The Framingham Heart Study.The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease · 2024Article
- Dietary Flavonoid Intake and Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment in the Elderly: A Case-Control Study.Nutrition and metabolic insights · 2024Article
- Chronic Consumption of Cranberries (Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAlthough the pathophysiology of cognitive decline is multifactorial, and modifiable by lifestyle, the evidence for the role of diet on cognitive function is still accumulating, particularly the potentially preventive role of constituents of plant-based foods.
methodsWe aimed to determine whether higher habitual intake of dietary flavonoids, key components of plant-based diets, were associated with improved cognition and medial temporal lobe volumes using three complementary approaches (longitudinal, cross-sectional and co-twin analyses). In 1126 female twins (n=224 with a 10-year follow-up of diet and cognition data) aged 18-89 years, habitual intakes of total flavonoids and seven subclasses (flavanones, anthocyanins, flavan-3-ols, flavonols, flavones, polymeric flavonoids (and proanthocyanidins separately)) were calculated using validated food frequency questionnaires. Cognition was assessed using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery test. Hippocampal volumes were measured in a subset using magnetic resonance imaging (16 monozygotic-twin pairs). Statistical models were adjusted for a range of diet and lifestyle factors.
resultsHigher intakes of flavanones (tertile (T)3-T1=0.45, 95%CI 0.13,0.77; p=0.01) and anthocyanins (T3-T1=0.45, 95%CI 0.08,0.81; p=0.02) were associated with improvements in age-related cognition score over 10 years. In cross-sectional analysis higher intake of flavanones (T3-T1= 0.12, 95% CI 0.02, 0.21; p=0.02) and proanthocyanidins (T3-T1= 0.13, 95% CI 0.02, 0.24; p=0.02) were associated with improved paired-associates learning. Higher intake of anthocyanins was significantly associated with improved executive function (T3-T1= -0.52, 95% CI 0.19, 0.84; p=0.001) and with faster simple reaction times (T3-T1= -18.1, 95% CI -35.4, -0.7; p=0.04). In co-twin analysis, those with higher anthocyanin (2.0%, p=0.01) and proanthocyanidin (2.0%, p=0.02) intakes at baseline had the largest left hippocampal volumes after 12 years.
conclusionSmall increases in habitual intake of flavonoid-rich foods (containing anthocyanins, flavanones and proanthocyanidins; equivalent to approximately two servings of oranges and blueberries per day) over long time periods have the potential to attenuate cognitive ageing.
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