{"id":962323,"date":"2026-11-07T23:18:11","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T23:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/962323\/"},"modified":"2026-11-07T23:18:11","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T23:18:11","slug":"the-daily-snack-that-could-help-with-depression-in-older-adults","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/962323\/","title":{"rendered":"The daily snack that could help with depression in older adults"},"content":{"rendered":"

Got the blues? Depression<\/a> is something as many as one in three<\/a> older adults deal with.<\/p>\n

Depression<\/a> is not a normal part of aging, but is more common<\/a> in folks who have health conditions like heart disease or cancer, have limited mobility, or have sleep problems \u2014 all circumstances associated with advancing age.<\/p>\n

The good news is that a wholesome treat can lift older folks\u2019 spirits, a new study suggests.<\/p>\n

\"AOlder adults are at higher risk of depression. Chanelle Malambo\/peopleimages.com \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

An easy boost for the blues may be blueberries, new research <\/a>suggests.<\/p>\n

Researchers in Boston found that eating blueberry powder for three months resulted in improvement of depressive symptoms.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what they think is at play.<\/p>\n

Brightening up with blueberries<\/p>\n

This pilot study looked at 18 participants, aged 65 and older, with depressive symptoms.<\/p>\n

They were split into two groups \u2014 one group ate 48 grams (about 2 cups) of freeze-dried blueberry powder a day for three months, while the other just believed they were having blueberry powder. It was a placebo.<\/p>\n

By the end, both groups had better mood and less depressive symptoms. They also saw benefits of the same magnitude \u2014 There was no statistical difference between the groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile changes in mental well-being outcomes are not different between groups, they appear to be \u2018improvements\u2019 of stronger magnitude in the blueberry group, with less variability compared to the placebo group,\u201d the researchers wrote.<\/p>\n

\"AEating blueberries could help with depressive symptoms in older adults, who are at higher risk of depression. luciano \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

The gut-brain axis<\/p>\n

The authors believed eating this fruit would change the gut microbiome, which might help with their depression.<\/p>\n

Separate research suggests gut microbes<\/a> affect the production and regulation of neurotransmitters that play a huge role in mood and stress, like GABA and serotonin. The vagus nerve<\/a> carries signals directly between the gut and brain on what\u2019s known as the gut-brain axis.<\/p>\n

In this new study, those who ate blueberries every day did see some subtle changes to their gut microbiome.<\/p>\n

Five bacterial enzymes increased, of which authors emphasized polyamine-transporting ATPase \u2014 which could help boost GABA.<\/p>\n

This neurotransmitter is responsible for slowing down brain activity to calm the nervous system. Some studies show that people with depression have lower levels<\/a> of GABA.<\/p>\n

More research needed<\/p>\n

Researchers emphasize: While there was no statistical difference between the blueberry and placebo group for changes in mood, that may not be the case in a bigger, more diverse study.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis pilot study was designed to test intervention feasibility and gather the preliminary data on outcomes that are needed to estimate power of a larger trial,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n

They acknowledged their sample size was very small and homogenous \u2014\u00a0most were white women.<\/p>\n

Supplements are becoming a popular way to help mood through the gut, with products like \u201cpsychobiotics<\/a>\u201d \u2014 probiotics that some studies have tied to improved mood. But not all experts are buying in.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Doctors] have to be incredibly cautious about recommending this for patients because the evidence is still being worked out,\u201d gastroenterologist Dr. David Levinthal<\/a>, director of UPMC\u2019s Neurogastroenterology & Motility Center, told The Post in a separate story.<\/p>\n

Other experts say rather than add those supplements, take out the junk food<\/a> in your diet.<\/p>\n

With the blueberry approach, it might be less about adding healthy bacter and more about the anthocyanins \u2014 the pigments that make the berries blue. Authors of a 2024 study<\/a> say they can inhibit MAO, which breaks down important mood neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Got the blues? Depression is something as many as one in three older adults deal with. Depression is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":962324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[65342,49,48,6319,7716,84,393,394,14592,406],"class_list":["post-962323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-brains","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-depression","tag-gut-health","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth","tag-study-says","tag-wellness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/962323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=962323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/962323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/962324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=962323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=962323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=962323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}