The Purple Food Passion

As Long as we are talking about diet supplements, we should probably mention Purple food. We eat a lot of purple food at our house and you probably should too. Let me tell you why.

Numerous studies have shown that the anthocyanins in purple fruit such as blueberries, blackberries, grapes, and currants promote brain growth and also improve neurotransmitter functioning in the brain. Purple vegetables such as eggplant and purple cabbage have anthocyanins too.

According to several research studies, the anthocyanin's ability to impove memory seems related to their beneficial effects on the brain's building blocks. There are research studies looking at this as we speak but the scientist think that the anthocyanins improve memory by Increasing brain proteins which results in more brain connections and more effective brain functioning. These connections improve and reinforce the communication between different areas of the brain and also improve the flow of information in the brain. Anthocyanins may also promote brain cell growth which is very amazing because we used to think that you could not grow more brain cells.

The anthocyanins help the neurotransmitter pathways critical in controlling memory storage and as a result, have the potential to enhance memory and learning. I do not know of any studies that are looking at ADHD and anthocyanins but since the brain's problem in ADHD seems to be one of neurotransmitter malfuctioning, there does seem to be a potential for the anthocyanins to bring improvement to many of the symptoms of ADHD.

My kids love smoothies and everyday they beg me to make them a berry smoothy. We go berry picking in the summer and I make sure to have frozen berries on hand when the season is over. Since I learned that berries, grapes, and currants can help our brains function, our family has become 'purple food passionate" .