1. Introduction
cardiovascular diseases, inflammation, chronic degenerative diseases, cognitive degeneration, cognitive decline
INFLAMMATION, EVENTS, PATHOLOGY, CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES
These authors contributed equally to this work.The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of consuming 50 g of raisins on cognitive performance, quality of life, and functional activities in healthy older adults. This is a parallel randomized controlled clinical trial, in which 80 subjects over 70 years of age participated. For 6 months, the intervention group (IG; Diet is a determining factor for health, populations that consume a diet rich in fruits and vegetables have a lower incidence of inflammatory, neurodegenerative, and cardiovascular diseases compared to populations with lower intakes of these foods. A Mediterranean-style diet, with a high content of phytochemicals, including polyphenols, is associated with a lower degree of inflammation biomarkers and a protective role in cerebrovascular and cardiovascular events [Some phenolic compounds may influence the pathological mechanisms underlying cognitive degeneration. These compounds could act not only as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents, but also as modulators of molecular mechanisms that play a role in the development of chronic degenerative diseases. Epidemiological studies suggest that nutritional intervention may prevent age-related cognitive decline, especially when the diet contains more than one bioactive nutrient [Among the foods rich in polyphenols is the grape, whose moderate consumption is believed to have benefits at a cognitive level. Neuroprotective benefits have been attributed to moderate consumption of grape polyphenols [The effect on cognitive functions of interventions that use supplements or foods rich in polyphenols in healthy older adults indicated insufficient evidence regarding this supplementation’s neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects. However, the findings from individual studies included in this systematic review suggest that polyphenol-rich supplementation may improve some isolated cognitive functions. Furthermore, the beneficial effect of polyphenols seems to depend on the ingested dose and bioavailability. The results suggest that at least an intermediate dose of polyphenols (≥500 mg) and intermediate (~9%) to high (43%) bioavailability rates are required to cross the blood–brain barrier and exert a significant effect on cognitive health. At a cognitive level, no studies directly related to raisins have been found, but there is literature that demonstrates the cognitive benefits of flavonols, flavanols, and stilbenes, families of polyphenols present in raisins. Specifically, in supplementation with flavanols or stilbenes, an improvement in attention, psychomotor speed, delayed memory, and word recognition is observed. The synergistic action of flavanols and flavonols improves visual memory in patients without cognitive pathology and working memory in patients with pathology. The results are influenced by the type of polyphenol, the duration, and the evaluation test used [The objective of this study is to analyze the effects of adding 50 g of Málaga muscatel raisins to the usual diet on cognitive performance, quality of life, and functional activities in healthy older adults.