Got the blues? Depression is something as many as one in three older adults deal with.
Depression is not a normal part of aging, but is more common in folks who have health conditions like heart disease or cancer, have limited mobility, or have sleep problems — all circumstances associated with advancing age.
The good news is that a wholesome treat can lift older folks’ spirits, a new study suggests.
An easy boost for the blues may be blueberries, new research suggests.
Researchers in Boston found that eating blueberry powder for three months resulted in improvement of depressive symptoms.
Here’s what they think is at play.
Brightening up with blueberries
This pilot study looked at 18 participants, aged 65 and older, with depressive symptoms.
They were split into two groups — 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.
By the end, both groups had better mood and less depressive symptoms. They also saw benefits of the same magnitude — There was no statistical difference between the groups.
“While changes in mental well-being outcomes are not different between groups, they appear to be ‘improvements’ of stronger magnitude in the blueberry group, with less variability compared to the placebo group,” the researchers wrote.
The gut-brain axis
The authors believed eating this fruit would change the gut microbiome, which might help with their depression.
Separate research suggests gut microbes affect the production and regulation of neurotransmitters that play a huge role in mood and stress, like GABA and serotonin. The vagus nerve carries signals directly between the gut and brain on what’s known as the gut-brain axis.
In this new study, those who ate blueberries every day did see some subtle changes to their gut microbiome.
Five bacterial enzymes increased, of which authors emphasized polyamine-transporting ATPase — which could help boost GABA.
This neurotransmitter is responsible for slowing down brain activity to calm the nervous system. Some studies show that people with depression have lower levels of GABA.
More research needed
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.
“This 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,” they wrote.
They acknowledged their sample size was very small and homogenous — most were white women.
Supplements are becoming a popular way to help mood through the gut, with products like “psychobiotics” — probiotics that some studies have tied to improved mood. But not all experts are buying in.
“[Doctors] have to be incredibly cautious about recommending this for patients because the evidence is still being worked out,” gastroenterologist Dr. David Levinthal, director of UPMC’s Neurogastroenterology & Motility Center, told The Post in a separate story.
Other experts say rather than add those supplements, take out the junk food in your diet.
With the blueberry approach, it might be less about adding healthy bacter and more about the anthocyanins — the pigments that make the berries blue. Authors of a 2024 study say they can inhibit MAO, which breaks down important mood neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline.
