Aronia, Cognition, and Eye Health (ACE)

The shift of on-site education/working to online education/working has had a detrimental impact on motivation to study or work and ultimately on mental health. Moreover, online education has been shown to have a negative effect on concentration, learning, and academic performance. Stress in the workplace is an increasing problem, leading to decreased productivity and overall well-being of working adults. Consequently, there is a great interest in improving cognitive performance, including memory and attention.

Previous studies in young adults have mainly focused on acute or short-term (e.g. 1 week) effects of anthocyanin supplementation on cognitive performance. The research hypothesis of the current study is that long term (6 weeks) AME supplementation affects domains of cognitive performance in a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, cross-over study in healthy young adults (18-35 years old).

Inclusion criteria

• Healthy men and women, aged between 18-35 years
• BMI between 18-30 kg/m2
• Systolic blood pressure < 160 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure < 100 mmHg
• Stable body weight (weight gain or loss < 3 kg in the past three months)
• Willingness to give up being a blood donor from 8 weeks before the start of the study, during the study and for 4 weeks after completion of the study
• No difficult venipuncture as evidenced during the screening visit

Exclusion criteria

• Smoking or smoking cessation < 12 months
• Contact lens wearers
• Past refractive surgery
• Severe medical conditions, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), kidney failure, auto-inflammatory diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease
• Use of dietary supplements or medication affecting the main outcomes of the study
• Use of an investigational product within another biomedical intervention trial within the previous month
• Familial hypercholesterolemia
• Abuse of drugs
• More than 3 alcoholic consumptions per day