These powerful foods reduce risk by 17%

Posted On: August 16, 2023

“Nuts share important nutritional properties (i.e., bioactive substances such as phenols or phytosterols, essential micronutrients, fiber, and high-quality protein) that may play a beneficial role in mental health,” explains the study.

But, how many nuts should one eat each day? How do nuts help prevent depression? How do nuts protect the brain?

The benefits of eating nuts every day

As we have seen, more and more evidence points to just that eating nuts every day can have a positive impact on mental health. A recent study published in the journal Clinical Nutrition provides new evidence.

To find out how nut consumption affects depression risk, researchers analyzed UK Biobank data from over 13,000 people.

Middle-aged and older participants with a median age of 58 years. None reported experiencing depression at the start of the study.

Participants completed a questionnaire to measure their intake of nuts and during the study also recorded symptoms of depression or use of antidepressants, explained Medical News Today (MNT).

So what did they find? The researchers found that, participants who ate 30 grams of nuts per day were less likely to suffer from depression and were taking antidepressants.

Nuts linked to a lower risk of depression include almonds, walnuts, cashews, hazelnuts, pistachios and Brazil nuts.

How many nuts to eat a day?

In conclusion, “Low to moderate nut consumption (>0 to 1 30 g serving/day) was associated with a 17% lower risk of depression at a follow-up of 5.3 years compared with no nut consumption, in a large sample of middle-aged and older people from the UK. This protective association increased in the absence of other known risk factors for depression.”

In general, experts recommend eat a handful of nuts a day. Now, because of what these protective measures of peanuts have on mental health?

Bruno Bizzozero-Peroni, of the University of Castilla-La Mancha and co-author of the study, explains that: “The anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects related to the nutritional composition of nuts could play an important role in reducing the risk of depression.” This is according to the newspaper La Razón.

“Besides that, rich nuts amino acidincluding arginine, glutamine, serine, and tryptophan, and lower levels of these amino acids are associated with depression.”

He also highlighted:

Our findings highlight another benefit of nut consumption. This provides an even stronger reason for people to get excited about eating nuts. Our findings highlight another benefit of nut consumption. This provides an even stronger reason for people to get excited about eating nuts.

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