The body of evidence about nuts and health continues to grow. These local and international research papers, recently published, corroborate decades of research about the importance of a regular handful of nuts in a healthy diet.

Nut consumption and long-term risk of all-cause dementia: Preliminary findings from three prospective cohort studies. (Zhao et al, 2026).
This pooled analysis of three large prospective cohort studies followed 17,349 adults aged 45 years and older for a combined 190,914 person-years and identified 992 cases of dementia. Compared with non-consumers, individuals who consumed nuts had a significantly lower risk of developing dementia, with those consuming more than 5g/day experiencing a 24% lower risk. A dose-response relationship was observed, with dementia risk decreasing as nut intake increased. These findings suggest that regular nut consumption may support brain health and reduce the risk of dementia in middle-aged and older adults, supporting the inclusion of nuts as part of a brain-healthy dietary patterns.

Urolithins from walnuts are associated with cognitive performance: Ancillary results from the Walnuts and Healthy Aging (WAHA) randomized trial. (Galkina et al, 2026).
In this study, 612 cognitively-healthy participants (66% women, mean age 69 years), of the Walnuts and Healthy Aging (WAHA) trial, either followed a 2-year walnut-rich diet (15% daily energy) or a control diet excluding walnuts. Compared with the control diet, the walnut-supplemented diet resulted in sizable increases in urinary urolithins – microbiota-derived metabolites of ellagitannins, a type of phenolic compound abundant in walnuts. This suggests that urinary urolithins are reliable biomarkers of walnut consumption. The research also found that changes in urolithin levels after two years of daily walnut consumption showed a direct association with cognitive performance. The findings provide clinical evidence linking dietary (poly)phenols, in this case from walnuts, with cognitive health.

Brain foods: A narrative review of food items and their impact on cognition over the life course. (Hardaway et al, 2026).
This narrative review examined the evidence for eight categories of brain-supportive foods across the lifespan, including dairy, eggs, seafood, lean meat, berries, leafy green vegetables, nuts and whole grains. Overall, both animal- and plant-based nutrient-dense foods were associated with better cognitive outcomes at different life stages. For nuts in particular, evidence suggests benefits from early life (i.e. during pregnancy, for enhanced cognitive development in children); through to older age, with links to lower risk of cognitive impairment, slower cognitive decline and better memory. Although much of the evidence is observational, findings are generally consistent and support nuts as an important food for lifelong brain health.

Nutrients and bioactive compounds in nuts: Implications for human health. (Alasalvar et al, 2026).
This review highlights the growing body of evidence supporting the health benefits of nuts, which are rich in nutrients and bioactive compounds. Regular nut consumption is consistently associated with a lower risk of several chronic diseases, including hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease and premature mortality. The review also emphasises the important role of interactions between nut bioactives and the gut microbiota in influencing nutrient absorption and health effects. Future research using metabolomics and microbiome sequencing is needed to better understand these mechanisms and explain differences in individual responses to nut consumption.

Acute and chronic effects of mixed nuts on energy metabolism in women at cardiometabolic risk: A randomized clinical trial. (Bonifacio et al, 2026).
This randomised controlled trial, involving women with overweight or obesity, investigated the effects of mixed nuts (cashews and Brazil nuts) on energy metabolism. Acute consumption of a nut-based beverage (30g cashews + 15g Brazil nuts) significantly increased fat oxidation after a meal compared with a control, suggesting nuts may enhance the body’s ability to burn fat in the short term. However, when 45g of mixed nuts were incorporated into an energy-restricted diet for eight weeks, there were no significant differences in resting metabolic rate or diet-induced thermogenesis, compared with a nut-free energy-restricted diet. While fasting fat oxidation increased in the nut group, the overall weight loss achieved by both groups may have masked any additional metabolic effects of nuts. The findings suggest mixed nuts may provide short-term metabolic benefits, particularly through increased fat oxidation, although longer-term effects require further investigation.

Optimal dietary patterns for lower weight gain and risk of obesity surrounding menopause. (Xia et al, 2026).
This prospective cohort study tracked women, in the Nurses’ Health Study II, over a 12-year period. Researchers examined and compared associations of multiple dietary patterns with weight gain and obesity risk in the years surrounding menopause. Among 38,283 participants, both a ‘low-insulinemic diet’ and a planetary-health dietary pattern were associated with the lowest weight gain and risk of obesity. The findings suggest that adopting low-insulinemic, planetary-health diets – low in red and processed meats, sodium, potatoes, and French fries and rich in nuts, legumes, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains – may optimise weight management during menopause, and if promoted during routine midlife care, could also improve women’s long-term cardiometabolic health.

Dietary patterns and risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality in adults with untreated or uncontrolled hypertension. (Chen et al, 2026).
In this study of >83,000 adults with hypertension and no previous cardiovascular disease (CVD), higher adherence to healthy dietary patterns was linked with a lower risk of CVD and premature death. The greatest reductions in CVD risk were seen among those with the highest adherence to the DASH diet (15% lower risk) and those consuming the least inflammatory diets, as measured by the Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Pattern (EDIP) score (11% lower risk). Higher intakes of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts and legumes, and dairy foods were consistently linked with lower risk of CVD, reinforcing the role of healthy dietary patterns, including regular nut consumption, for heart health in people with hypertension.

Nut consumption as a therapeutic strategy to preserve brain function, attenuate neuropathology, and modulate cross-tissue microRNAs in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. (Panisello et al. 2026).
Nutritional modulation of brain metabolism is emerging as a key strategy for preventing Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), with potential to influence key pathologies such as Aβ accumulation, tau phosphorylation, and neuroinflammation. However, the biological mechanisms linking diet, metabolism, and AD remain poorly understood. This study investigated the neuroprotective effects of a nut-enriched diet (10% of daily energy from mixed nuts) on AD-like pathology in mice. It found a nut-enriched diet exerted significant neuroprotective effects. The findings support nut consumption as a feasible nutrition-based strategy for AD prevention, and identify candidate miRNAs that may serve as biomarkers or mechanistic mediators at the intersection of diet, metabolism, and neurodegeneration.