A new Australian study has found eating nuts may increase cognitive performance in healthy older adults (1).

It found cognitive scores were higher in people with a moderate intake of nuts, equivalent to 15-30g nuts daily, compared with those who didn’t eat nuts.

The journal BMC Geriatrics has just published this research, conducted by a team at Deakin University.

About the research:

The study involved 1,814 people 60 years or older, from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) 2011-2012 and 2013-2014 cohorts.

Researchers monitored their nut intake and diet quality with two 24-hour diet recalls. They then split participants into four groups, based on their nut intake: non-consumers (0 g/day), low intake (0.1-15 g/day), moderate intake (15.1-30.0 g/day) or met recommendation (>30 g/day).

Cognitive function was also tested, through measures such as immediate and delayed recall, verbal fluency, and processing speed and attention.

Key findings:

• Older adults who ate 15-30g nuts had the highest cognitive scores, whereas those who didn’t eat nuts at all had the lowest scores.

• In this study, eating more than 30g/day did not lead to higher cognitive performance, compared to the moderate intake group. An exception was delayed recall, where a significantly higher score was seen with intake greater than 30 g/day.

• A higher nut intake was linked with a higher nutrient intake and better diet quality.

Deakin University video summary of the findings:

A review by the University of Wollongong found just 2% of Australians ate the recommended 30g of nuts a day and 60% of Australians did not report eating any nuts at all.

Another recent review, also involving Deakin University researchers, looked at the effects of nuts on age-related diseases. It found that nut consumption, especially when part of a healthy diet or over a prolonged period, was linked with positive outcomes. These included longer telomere length, reduced risk of sarcopenia and better cognition.

The bottom line:

The findings confirm the benefits of a daily handful (30g) of nuts, as a simple dietary strategy to improve cognitive performance in older adults. This new research builds on the many well-recognised benefits of daily nut consumption.

Note: The INC International Nut and Dried Fruit Council funded the study, recently published in BMC Geriatrics.