
Effects of acute wild blueberry supplementation on the cognition of children - _Microft
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00394-018-1843-6
======
colechristensen
n=27, testing several things at once, funded by Big Blueberry

Well below the threshold of common interest. Small effect size on what is
effectively a significance fishing expedition.

>Acknowledgements

>We appreciate the support of the Wild Blueberry Association of North America
for their provision of the wild blueberry powder used in this study. Further,
we thank the South East Doctoral Training Centre and the Wild Blueberry
Association for their financial support. This work is part of an ESRC Case
funded studentship. We also thank the participants and school staff who
accommodated this research.

~~~
mumblemumble
Let's ignore n for a moment, because it doesn't affect the chance of getting a
more extreme result under the null hypothesis. And that's always a good thing
to wonder about when you're looking at multiple comparisons.

They calculated 11 p-values, and got a significant result for two of them
under α=0.1. We'd expect that that to happen about half the time if the null
hypothesis is true.

(Realistically, they got a significant result on two numbuers that were both
derived from the same measurement, which is less compelling than two unrelated
ones. But I'm not sure how to model that, so, like any true armchair
statistician, I'm going to handle it by ignoring it.)

I also did a hasty power calculation, and estimate that a study of this size
could detect an effect as large as the biggest one they reported about half
the time.

In summary: If there's no real effect, there's a 50/50 chance of getting a
significant p-value out of this experimental design. If there is a real
effect, still a 50/50 chance of getting a significant p-value.

Which hypothesis would I pick if I had to guess? Well, I'm sure this is also
junk statistics, but the p-values sure look to me like they could have been
drawn from a uniform distribution, which is what I would expect them to look
like under the null hypothesis. Definitely _not_ what I would expect them to
look like under the alternative hypothesis, given that all these tests are
trying to measure roughly the same thing.

~~~
pliny
>They calculated 11 p-values, and got a significant result for two of them
under α=0.1. We'd expect that that to happen about half the time if the null
hypothesis is true.

Not true:

> Pairwise comparisons were used to explore significant effects, and were
> corrected for type 1 errors using Bonferroni adjustment

~~~
mumblemumble
Aha. That's what I get for jumping straight to the regression table. So I
retract my attempt to suggest that this was a fishing expedition.

That said, I'm still inclined to say that, even given the Bonferroni
adjustment, the distribution of results looks more like what I'd expect under
the null hypothesis. It's hard to imagine that all these tests they used are
uncorrelated.

------
Jolter
Why is the study only single-blinded? If the person administering the tests
knows that they are testing the placebo group, it could influence the results.
I don't see why they could not make this double blind if they wanted to. It
makes me very suspicious.

~~~
driverdan
Because it's a terrible study. Small sample size, single blinding, p hacking,
industry funding.

~~~
Sharlin
I doubt there even exists a wild blueberry ”industry”.

~~~
kingbirdy
From the acknowledgements:

> We appreciate the support of the Wild Blueberry Association of North America
> for their provision of the wild blueberry powder used in this study.
> Further, we thank the South East Doctoral Training Centre and the Wild
> Blueberry Association for their financial support.

~~~
Sharlin
Yeah, a couple of nonprofits and an academic institution (the latter of which
doesn't appear to have any vested interests related to blueberries). Sure,
bias is always possible, but to talk of an "industry" appears to be stretching
it.

~~~
therealcamino
I think you're making too much of the word "industry" and whether
organizations are for-profit or not, without addresssing whether those
organizations suggest a conflict of interest, which is what "industry" is
shorthand for. The Wild Blueberry Association of North America is a trade
association, which exists to increase consumption of wild blueberries.

------
vertigolimbo
I wish these articles would make a clear distinction between blueberries and
bilberries (wild blueberries) which are so common in eastern European forests
but almost unavailable on the shelves. They have very dark purple colour and
are full of flavour. Interestingly, you can find them in most blueberry
muffins.

~~~
kseistrup
They really _should_ make a clear distinction and give the scientific name of
the species they were using in their research.

Here in Denmark, blueberry (“blåbær”) means Vaccinium myrtillus and is readily
available pickled or frozen, whereas the "blueberries" with light flesh (e.g.,
Vaccinium uliginosum – "mosebølle") are not considered blueberries in the
botanical sense.

~~~
sampo
The American blueberry (northern highbush blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum) is,
well, American. And also in British English the word blueberry refers to the
American blueberry. But the British must have had access to the European
blueberry (bilberry, Vaccinium myrtillus) long before anyone transported
American blueberries to Britain/Europe? So, to which berry did the word
blueberry refer to in England 100 or 200 years ago? And when did the meaning
change? I am puzzled by this.

~~~
benj111
The British do have access to Bilberries, I believe I can see a patch from my
house.

I believe the term European Blueberry may have been retroactively applied,
although the Scots call bilberries blaeberries, so it could be a corruption of
that.

~~~
wolfhumble
> Scots call bilberries blaeberries, so it could be a corruption of that.

Interesting. 'Blae' in Blaeberries seems very close to 'Blå' in Blåbær
(Norwegian, Danish), Blåbär (Swedish) which means blueberry; typically found
wild in the forest.

~~~
benj111
Wikipedia possibly agrees

"The name “bilberry” appears to have a Scandinavian origin, possibly from as
early as 1577, being similar to the Danish word bølle"

Interestingly bilberry seems to be a Northern England thing, southerners call
them whortleberries.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilberry](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilberry)

~~~
sampo
So even though a word "blue berry" exists in Danish/Norwegian/Swedish
(blåbær/blåbær/blåbär) and German (blaubeere) and even in Scots (blaeberry),
the English called them whortleberries? And the English language just didn't
have the word blueberry until the American berries were brought to Europe?
Fascinating.

Well, apparently also Dutch, French, Italian and Spanish don't have a word
"blue berry" (Dutch has now, for the American blueberry). So maybe it's not
that universal.

~~~
benj111
The _Southern_ English call them whortleberries.

What can I say, they're strange folk down there ;)

To be fair blueberries aren't that blue, and bilberries even less so, it's
about as self evident as describing white grapes as white. It's even possible
the fruit predates the colour. That's the case for Orange which only became a
colour in the 16th Century, and was named after the fruit.

------
kseistrup
See also the human effect matrix on
[https://examine.com/supplements/blueberry/](https://examine.com/supplements/blueberry/)

------
_Microft
The real title was _" The effects of acute wild blueberry supplementation on
the cognition of 7–10-year-old schoolchildren"_ which is unfortunately way too
long for a HN submission.

------
Merrill
"Do polyphenols enter the brain and does it matter? Some theoretical and
practical considerations" \-
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3316747/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3316747/)

>In this paper, we summarize published data on the penetration of PPs into
animal brain and review some hypotheses to explain the biological basis of
potentially health-beneficial effects of PPs to the brain. Finally, we
highlight promising new approaches, especially those of a hormetic dose-
response and gut microbiota-brain interaction, which may allow a better
understanding of PPs’ mode of action in animals and humans.

Only in very low concentrations, but there might be enough for an effect.
Possible mechanisms are not well understood.

------
kuu
Results:

For the MANT, significantly quicker RTs were observed for WBB participants
when compared to placebo participants on 120 ms trials, without cost to
accuracy. Furthermore, WBB participants showed enhanced verbal memory
performance on the AVLT, recalling more words than placebo participants on
short delay and memory acquisition measures post-consumption. _Despite these
significant improvements in cognitive performance, no significant effects were
observed for reading measures._

(Emphasis is mine)

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lonelappde
This is well documented to be an ad dressed up as research. Please flag.

------
pteraspidomorph
From what I can tell the designations "blueberry" and "wild blueberry" can
refer to multiple species; I wonder which species was used?

~~~
kseistrup
If they were testing flavonoids/anthocyanins, it is probably a species that
has with blue/purple flesh – e.g. the european blueberry (Vaccinium
myrtillus).

~~~
tralarpa
The authors wrote that they gave 240 g fresh blueberries containing 253 mg
anthocyanins. That would be 105mg anthocyanins per 100g (provided that the
authors didn't actually mean 253mg/100g).

According to this table, that's too low for the European Blueberry:

[https://www.intechopen.com/books/superfood-and-functional-
fo...](https://www.intechopen.com/books/superfood-and-functional-food-the-
development-of-superfoods-and-their-roles-as-medicine/anthocyanins-in-berries-
and-their-potential-use-in-human-health)

(What I am doing with my life? I don't even know what an anthocyanin is)

~~~
VLM
anthocyanins are a broad family of natural food colorings, they're what gives
the berries their color.

As for bio effects you can draw a nice graph of anthocyanin yield vs certain
mold infections and some molds clearly can't grow in anthocyanins.

The "industry" doesn't have a unified voice so on one hand the "lets market a
concentrated extract as a super-bioreactive kinda-like an antibiotic but for
mold prevention" is not coordinating with "lets enter the lucrative supplement
marketplace which much like patent medicines a century ago promises everything
to everyone". And a third group wants to sell the concentrated extract as a
totally safe natural organic food coloring.

Needless to say the regulators are freaked out that the same substance is
being marketed as both a completely non bio active colorant, a patent medicine
supplement of vague goodness, AND as a food color. So there is much legal
freakout and in EU you can use blueberry juice as a food colorant or flavoring
but not concentrated anthocyanins refined from blueberries as a food coloring,
and/or its allowed in the USA I just can't remember.

------
Scoundreller
If this increases the supply of the tasty wild blueberries instead of those
giant pieces of blue water in an organic sac, i’m All for it.

------
leoh
Perhaps it's merely the sugar that helped. Or the kids felt more open and
relaxed after being given a tasty snack.

------
jonplackett
Are there any supplements that already exist containing whatever flavonoid
that is in wild blueberries?

~~~
SmellyGeekBoy
Just eat the wild blueberries? There's plenty of other good stuff in them too.

~~~
jonplackett
Where can I get me some wild blueberries though?

