From walnuts and pistachios to peanuts and almonds, nuts are one of those hero foods that always seem to be making waves in the world of nutrition.

Not only are they a great source of plant protein (and happen to taste great in both savoury and sweet dishes) but nuts have also been found to offer a number of direct health benefits, from reducing our risk of heart and circulatory diseases to helping the body deal with stress.

And now, nuts have been found to have yet another benefit – this time, when it comes to their impact on cognition and brain health as we get older.  

That’s according to a new study published in the journal Clinical Nutrition, which investigated the effects of daily nut consumption on the brains of 28 adults aged over 65. 

The study, which was funded by the International Nuts and Dried Fruit Council (INC), found that eating nuts on a daily basis benefitted blood flow to the brain and verbal memory.

To measure this, the researchers sorted the participants into two groups and assigned a different diet plan to each. While the first group consumed 60 grams of walnuts, pistachios, cashews and hazelnuts per day (an amount equivalent to two small, cupped handfuls), the second group consumed no nuts at all.

The participants followed these diet plans for 16 weeks before taking an eight-week washout period, after which the groups switched plans for another 16 weeks.  

At the end of each 16-week period, the study’s authors measured a number of key indicators, including brain vascular function (aka blood flow) and cognitive performance.

Most importantly, the researchers found that daily nut consumption increased blood flow in a number of areas across the brain, including in the bilateral prefrontal cortex and the frontal lobe, the part of the brain responsible for memory, judgment, creativity and other vital functions.

They also found that those who had eaten the nuts were able to remember 16% more words in a verbal memory task compared to those who didn’t.

While it’s worth noting that this study is limited because of its small sample size, this isn’t the first piece of research which has linked nut consumption to better brain health and cognitive function.

In 2022, a six-year cohort study into the impact of nuts on the cognitive function of elderly adults found that those who consumed over 70g of nuts per week had a 17% lower risk of developing cognitive impairment compared to those who didn’t eat nuts or ate them on a less-than-weekly basis.

And later that same year, another study into the impact of mixed tree nut consumption in 79 non-elderly adults found that, after just four weeks of consuming 30g of nuts a day, participants experienced a positive effect on their cognition, as well as an ‘upregulation’ of the microbial groups associated with good gut health. 

More research is of course needed to understand exactly how these benefits are produced, but these studies indicate that adding more nuts to our diets could help to maintain our brain health – something that’s important for preventing cognitive decline as we age. 

It’s a reminder of how simple making positive changes to your diet can be. So, next time you’re making a bowl of porridge, why not toss a handful of almonds on top? Brain health aside, it’s a delicious way to make your breakfast more nutritious. And what’s not to love about that?

Images: Getty