Berries are packed with polyphenols, which have powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Anthocyanidins, the natural blue-purple pigments in plants, are a type of polyphenol and can cross the blood-brain barrier and may provide neuroprotective effects. Our brain makes up less than about 2 percent of our weight, but it may burn up to 50 percent of our body’s fuel, creating a potential firestorm of free radicals. Might the brain-seeking phytonutrients in berries fight oxidation, inflammation, and increase blood flow? The Harvard Nurses’ Health Study followed 16,000 women for years and found that those eating more berries over the long term had “significantly slower rates of cognitive decline” even after controlling for socioeconomic status. In the study, higher consumption of blueberries and strawberries was associated with “delayed cognitive aging by as much as 2.5 years”—thought to be because of the brain-localizing anthocyanins. Performing a randomized cross-over stud...