This blueberry-based food supplement helps fight baby blues according to researchers

in collaboration with

Dr Odile Bagot (Gynecologist-obstetrician)

Do you know the baby blues? This is a period of transient post-partum depression (15 days maximum) which manifests itself as anxiety, irritability or even mood swings. However, these unpleasant reactions which are not easy to manage could soon be attenuated, thanks to progress in Science.

A food supplement based on blueberries

For this study, conducted between January 2019 and December 2022, 100 postpartum participants were recruited. Some of them took four doses of a natural supplement (based on blueberries), just a few days after giving birth, and others a placebo.

Result ? In the group that took the antioxidant-rich supplement, more than two-thirds of participants (66%) experienced no or only minimal symptoms of baby blues.

Over the next six months, participants who received the supplement had fewer symptoms of depression and none reached the “critical threshold” for postpartum depression.

Better yet, the capsule was well tolerated by the candidates and they presented less than “drowsiness, headache and restlessness“.

For the researchers, these results can be explained by the unique composition of the capsule.

Dr. Meyer’s previous research found that a protein called MAO-A increased significantly in the brains of postpartum women and that it eliminated important brain chemicals (like serotonin and dopamine).

The food supplement has, in fact, been designed to “replenish these essential neurochemicals” and to boost women’s mood.

Another interesting observation: the amino acids contained in the supplement did not affect the composition of breast milk.

What does our expert think?

For Odile Bagot, gynecologist, the study is not only interesting but it is also indisputable. “It actually presents very little bias, apart from that cited on Covid-19, a particular period for women“.