NCT03592966

Investigating the Acute Effects of Blueberry (Poly)Phenols on Vascular Function and Cognition in Healthy Individuals.

Randomised, Double-blind, Placebo Controlled, Crossover Trial Investigating the Acute Effects of Blueberry (Poly)Phenols on Vascular Function and Cognitive Performance in Healthy Individuals Across the Life Course.

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 92 (actual)
• Sponsor: King's College London · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 8 Years – 80 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study aims to determine the effect of blueberry (poly)phenol vs placebo on vascular function and cognitive performance with an insight into cerebral blood flow velocity changes, across all ages of the general healthy population.

Detailed description

Foods rich in certain (poly)phenols, particularly flavonoids, such as berries, have been shown to improve measures of vascular function as well as cognitive performance in human intervention studies. Blueberries are rich in anthocyanins, a subclass of flavonoids that have been widely linked to health benefits, particularly improvements in endothelial function. Research have previously shown that blueberries improve executive functioning and memory in both healthy adults and children. These improvements were seen within 2-5 hours post-consumption of blueberries, a time-course that positively correlates with improvements in vascular function (measured as flow-mediated dilation). This indicates that increases in blood flow may influence improvements in cognitive performance. To date no study has investigated whether blueberry consumption can induce an increase in cerebral blood flow, with subsequent improvements in vascular and cognitive function. In this study, investigators aim to directly link wild blueberry consumption with increased vascular and cerebral blood flow and positive cognitive outcomes in healthy individuals through the life course, between the ages of 8 and 80 years old. Investigators will use a large group of healthy subjects representative of the general public over a wide age range in males and females to evaluate the generalisability of the health benefits of blueberry consumption.

Conditions

• Healthy

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	Wild Blueberry Powder	Freeze-dried whole fruit blueberry drink.
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	Placebo	Freeze-dried placebo powder

Timeline

• Start date: 2018-06-01
• Primary completion: 2020-10-01
• Completion: 2021-05-18
• First posted: 2018-07-19
• Last updated: 2021-05-19

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United Kingdom