Eating strawberries can stave off dementia and depression

A new study has suggested that a daily portion of the fruit reduces issues relating to memory and improves mood in overweight, middle-aged adults.

The experiment was a randomised controlled trial featuring five men and 25 women.

It saw one group given a strawberry powder prepared from whole fruit and the other given a control powder designed to have the same appearance and taste.

After 12 weeks of following the diet, participants who were given the whole fruit strawberry powder made fewer mistakes during a word list learning task.

Researchers hope that the study could help prevent dementia - which does not have a known cure.

Professor Robert Krikorian, of the University of Cincinnati's Academic Health Centre, said: "Dementia is a general term that includes many different diseases, all without remedies.

"It is not clear when or if effective therapy will be available. Prevention and mitigation through dietary and lifestyle choices is currently the best approach we have."

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