These Flavanol-Rich Foods May Trigger an Exercise-Like Response in the Brain, Study Finds

Research suggests compounds in foods like blackberries and kale can influence brain chemistry tied to motivation and activity — another reminder that what we eat affects more than we realize.

-A 2025 study suggests that astringent, flavanol-rich foods like berries and red wine may stimulate the nervous system through their puckering taste, potentially triggering physiological responses similar to moderate exercise.

-In the study, mice given oral doses of flavanols exhibited increased physical activity, greater exploration, and improved learning and memory compared to a control group.

-Researchers also observed elevated levels of dopamine, norepinephrine, and related compounds associated with motivation, attention, and alertness.

There is plenty of solid science emphasizing the importance of regular exercise. As the Mayo Clinic explains, a consistent workout routine can help with everything from reducing the risk of disease to supporting our mood. But if you simply don't have the time, recent research might suggest something that could help: astringent foods.

In late 2025, researchers from the Shibaura Institute of Technology published their study in the journal Current Research in Food Science, examining the effects of eating astringent foods, which they describe as the "dry, puckering, rough, or sandpapery feeling people notice when eating foods rich in certain plant compounds called polyphenols." Think of foods and drinks like berries and red wine that occasionally make you suck in your cheeks a little.

While the team noted that flavanols — a type of polyphenol — have been linked to a range of positive health outcomes, including lower cardiovascular disease risk and improved memory, what remains less clear is how they influence the human nervous system and brain function, considering that only small amounts of polyphenols are actually absorbed into the bloodstream.

To better understand the effects of flavanols, a team led by Dr. Yasuyuki Fujii and Professor Naomi Osakabe examined "sensory perception" and how this puckery taste itself serves as a signal to the brain. "Flavanols exhibit an astringent taste," Fujii said in the journal Current Research in Food Science. "We hypothesized that this taste serves as a stimulus, transmitting signals directly to the central nervous system (comprising the brain and spinal cord). As a result, it is thought that flavanol stimulation is transmitted via sensory nerves to activate the brain, subsequently inducing physiological responses in the periphery through the sympathetic nervous system."

In plain language, that means they believe the taste sends a message to the brain via your nerves, which then triggers a physical response.

The Greens You Keep Throwing Away Could Support Gut, Metabolic, and Immune Health, Researchers Say To test this, the team gave one group of 10-week-old mice oral doses of flavanols and another group just distilled water to compare the results. They found that the mice that consumed flavanols "showed noticeably higher levels of physical activity, increased exploration, and stronger performance in learning and memory tasks compared with the control group."

These findings, the team broke down, suggest that the flavanols can trigger a "broad" physiological response. Perhaps most interesting of all is the response that resembles physical exercise. That's because the flavanols appeared to function as a "moderate stressor."

"Stress responses elicited by flavanols in this study are similar to those elicited by physical exercise. Thus, moderate intake of flavanols, despite their poor bioavailability, can improve the health and quality of life," Fujii added.

Now, before you abandon your morning Zumba class, keep in mind that this isn't a substitute for exercise, as the team explained that this was simply an observation in their study with mild (at best) outcomes. So take it as merely a fun finding that might inspire you to eat more berries.

And in case you need another reason to eat these foods, the team also discovered that they increased the "levels of dopamine and its precursor levodopa increased, along with norepinephrine and its metabolite normetanephrine in the locus coeruleus-noradrenaline network." Those chemicals, they added, play a major role in "motivation, attention, alertness, and stress regulation." So if nothing else, eating these foods may at least motivate you to get to the gym.

Lauren Manaker MS, RDN, LD, CLEC: Lauren is an award-winning registered dietitian and three-time book author, with more than 22 years in the field.

I quit smoking decades ago. Here’s my simple method:

I kept 5 cigarettes in a bowl every day for a week.
Next week 4
Next week 3
etc

And every time I wanted one, I ran out into my very large fenced yard and swore like a sailor. (*&^T&*^&(*)_. Didn’t want to frighten mydog and two cats.

At the end of the sequence, quitting wasn’t impossible. If I wanted to cheat I’d run out into the yard...........

If you don’t have a huge yard, you might try screaming into a pillow.

I wasn’t allowed to have anything sugary when I was a child, even my baby teeth had to be filled. So that’s not a problem for me, actually prefer things that aren’t too sweet. Two local stores carry the yummiest dessert bar...Aldens Margarita Sorbet. You might try that as a stepping stone to sugar free. Walmart? Kroger?Fred Meyer? NaturalGrocer?

My other fave dessert is fat-free black raspberry yogurt. It has a little sugar, but not much. I get it at Trader Joe, a house brand. Other stores have different flavors, and many have sugar-free yogurt. Those one-serving containers are perfect desserts. Eat and toss it out.

Haha right with you. My new MD felt my upper arm muscle a couple of years ago and said, “You’re very strong. You’ll live to be 100.”

Not muscular now and MUST LIFT WEIGHTS SEVERAL TIMES DAILY AND WALK AT LEAST A MILE. I’m 89 and am starting the walk the very minute the weather permits. Walking while lifting light weights like 3 or 5 pounders might be a good way to start. Our senior complex is about two blocks long and a block wide, good sidewalks around it and very nice people to talk to as I walk. Please kick me in my ladylike @ss if I don’t report daily progress here. Might walk late in the day, I simply do not function early.

Astringent Berries....Viking Aronia. (Black Chokeberry)

Black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) polyphenols reveal different antioxidant, antimicrobial and neutrophil-modulating activities

(Snip...) "The current study reports data on antioxidant, antimicrobial and neutrophil-modulating activities of different polyphenolic preparations from black chokeberry fruits: crude extract, purified extract standardized to 20% and 40% anthocyanins, and proanthocyanidins; as well as pure compounds (chlorogenic acid, cyanidin-3-O-galactoside, epicatechin, rutin and quercetin) present in black chokeberries. Minor phenolic components - quercetin and epicatechin showed the highest ORAC and TRAP antioxidant activity. Given the amount of individual phenolics in the fruits, proanthocyanidins are the major contributor to antioxidant activity of fresh black chokeberries. Studied polyphenols and preparations had no effect on the spontaneous chemiluminescence (CL) of human neutrophils and only mild effect on PMA-activated CL. Greater effects were observed on OZP-activated CL, being statistically significant (p < 0.05) for quercetin and rutin. The antimicrobial activity test against 10 pathogens showed that black chokeberry proanthocyanidins are the most potent antimicrobial agents in the fruit. "

Viking Aronia Current knowledge of Aronia melanocarpa as a medicinal plant

"Aronia melanocarpa, native to eastern North America, has become popular in Eastern Europe and Russia. Aronia melanocarpa fruits are one of the richest plant sources of phenolic substances, mainly anthocyanins--glycosides of cyanidin. Aronia melanocarpa fruit juice and anthocyanins derived from the fruits have been studied intensively for the last 15 years. Most of the effects of Aronia melanocarpa anthocyanins are due to their high antioxidative activity. Our investigations have demonstrated a remarkable hepatoprotective, a very good gastroprotective and a pronounced anti-inflammatory effect of Aronia melanocarpa fruit juice in rats as well as a bacteriostatic activity in vitro against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli and an antiviral activity against type A influenza virus. Research of other authors has demonstrated that Aronia melanocarpa anthocyanins can normalize the carbohydrate metabolism in diabetic patients and in streptozotocin-diabetic rats, have an in vitro antimutagenic activity and exhibit a distinct immunomodulatory activity in human lymphocyte cultures and in patients with breast cancer, suppress the growth of human HT-29 colon cancer cells, inhibit the N-nitrosamine formation in rats and decrease the toxicity and cumulation of cadmium in liver and kidneys. Currently, there are no data in literature about any unwanted and toxic effects of Aronia melanocarpa fruits, juice and extracts. (...snip)

I would still limit consumption to 15 to 20 berries a day as they have a Laxative effect in some people.

Ways to use Aronia.

Foragerchef.com/black-chokeberry

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