Antioxidant Rich Diets Improve AgeRelated Declines In Mental Function Of Rats Tampa, FL Popeye was right! Eat your spinach. In fact, add some freshcut apples to that spinach salad.

Two new animal studies by researchers at the University of South Florida Center for Aging and Brain Repair and James A. Haley Veterans Hospital bolster a growing body of evidence that certain fruits and vegetables may protect the brain against the ravages of age. The complementary research papers appear in the Journal of Neuroscience.

"If these preclinical findings translate to humans, it suggests that eating a diet high in antioxidantrich fruits and vegetables may help reverse declines in learning and memory as you get older," Paula Bickford, PhD, lead author of both studies and a professor at the USF Center for Aging and Brain Repair.

In the first study, coauthored by USF's M. Claire Cartford, PhD, older rats fed a diet rich in spinach for six weeks showed a reversal in the normal loss of learning that occurs with age. The rats that ate rat chow containing 2 percent freezedried spinach learned to associate the sound of a bell tone with a subsequent puff of air faster than those fed regular rat chow, the study found.

The test measured how quickly the rats learned to blink, after hearing the tone, in anticipation of the oncoming puff of air a conditioned response shown to slow with age in rodents and humans.

Spinach is rich in antioxidants, which scientists say can counteract free radicals generated in the body during normal metabolism and exposure to environmental insults such as pollution, ultraviolet light and radiation. An excess of free radicals can damage cellular lipids, protein and DNA. Studies suggest that a lifelong accumulation of free radicals can slow mental processes in old age and may be a factor in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, Dr. Bickford said.

The second study, coauthored by Carmelina Gemma, PhD, of USF and James A. Haley VA Hospital, found that the benefit of a diet high in fruits and vegetables depends on the levels of antioxidant nutrients in the fruits and vegetables. Furthermore, the researchers suggest, the protective effect of antioxidants may be linked to their ability to reverse agerelated accumulations of potentially harmful inflammatory substances in the brain.

The USF researchers compared three groups of older rats. One group ate a diet supplemented by spirulina, a bluegreen algae high in antioxidant activity. The second group was fed a daily ration of apple, a food moderate in antioxidant activity, with their rat chow. The third group ate a cucumberenriched diet, low in antioxidant activity.

Aged rats fed either spirulinaor appleenriched diets for two weeks demonstrated improved neuron function, a suppression of inflammatory substances in the brain, and a decrease in malondialdehyde (MDA), a marker for oxidative damage. In fact, spirulina reversed the impairment in adrenergic neural function normally associated with aging. There was no improvement in rats fed a diet supplemented with cucumber.

"Not all foods are created equal," Dr. Bickford said. "Cucumbers taste good and have lots of fiber. But unlike spirulina and apples, they are not rich in phytochemicals that have antioxidant or antiinflammatory effects in the brain."

Until then, the USF neuroscientist recommends that daily diets include a variety of richly colored fruits and vegetables the most colorful ones tend to pack the greatest antioxidant punch. She favors spinach salads for lunch and routinely snacks on blueberries and strawberries.

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Pomegranates are one of the most healthful foods on earth. Their juice has more polyphenol antioxidants, which may offer protection against heart disease and cancer, than such notables as red wine, green tea, blueberry juice and orange juice. Pomegranates also are high in potassium and vitamin C.

The pomegranate is a seasonal fruit that hits area shelves in September. The season continues until about the end of the year. To me, they are as much a part of autumn as football Sunday, leaf peeping and Oktoberfest beers.

They grow both in the wild and domestically from as far away as the Middle East, the Mediterranean and China (hence their nickname, "Chinese Apples"), but the ones you see in your local supermarkets come from California.

Pomegranates range in size from a large orange to a very large grapefruit, and in color from their characteristic deep red to a pale or yellowish hue. Inside this husk are hundreds of bright red seeds just bursting with a sweet, sticky juice, and are attached to a thick, white membrane and covered by a tissuepaperlike substance.

Each seed, which is not nearly as hard or dense as a grape seed, is surrounded by juice. Together, they are called an aril. This is what you eat.

The taste The flavor is unique there truly is nothing like a pomegranate, especially when you get a real good one but over the years I have likened it to a cross between a grape and a cranberry. The good news is that they get better as the season goes on, so you'll be hardpressed to find a dull one right now. Gary Clancy, Ashville N.C. Citizen Times