2023-04-22 14:02:40
We now know that nuts are healthy. It is also not unknown that there is a beneficial effect on the brain. But never before has this been demonstrated as clearly as in a new study. It seems that a specific type of omega-3 in walnuts has a positive influence on the brains of young people in particular.
Our body needs the essential fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid, or ALA. This is neither produced by the body itself nor stored in the adipose tissue (unlike the other essential fatty acid linoleic acid). Ideally, half a percent of the total energy intake per day consists of ALA. For adults, this amounts to about 2 to 3 grams per day. The fatty acid, also known as omega-3, plays a fundamental role in brain development, especially between the ages of 11 and 16. That’s why it seemed like a good idea to Spanish researchers a study into the effect of walnuts on the brain function of adolescents.
Better concentration
Seven hundred high school students from different schools between the ages of 11 and 16 participated in the study. They were randomly divided into two groups: the control group, which was left completely alone, and the experimental group, which received 30-gram bags of walnuts. They were asked to eat a portion every day and to record in a notebook whether the nuts were actually consumed. The experiment lasted half a year.
And the results were remarkable: the young people who had eaten the whole bag of walnuts for at least 100 days – it didn’t matter if they consumed the nuts every day, as long as it was at least 100 out of 183 days – had an improved attention span. The behavior of the children who had ADHD was greatly improved. On average, they paid much better attention in class and were a lot less hyperactive.
Hormonal transformation
“Adolescence is a period of great biological changes in the body of a growing child. A hormonal transformation occurs. This stimulates the growth of synapses in the frontal cortex, or the part of the cerebral cortex in the forehead that is responsible for more complex behaviors and emotions. This process is known as neuropsychological maturation. Neurons that are well nourished with the fatty acid ALA are able to grow more new and stronger synapses, with impressive results as a result,” explains researcher Jordi Julvez.
Fluid intelligence
Not only did the attention span of the walnut-eating students improve significantly, there was also progress in a cognitive function called fluid reasoning or fluid intelligence. This is the capacity for abstract reasoning, logical reasoning and the degree of flexibility in thinking and problem solving in new situations. “This is also called the innate (genetic component of) intelligence, the intellectual predisposition. It has less to do with the learning process. We scaled the level of fluid reasoning by presenting the children with increasingly complex tests, such as pattern recognition in sequences of letters,” says Julvez.
By no means all children ate their walnuts daily, so the cognitive benefits were only found in the part of the experimental group that had eaten the extra ALA for more than 100 of the 183 days. “If you compare the control group and the experimental group as a whole, then we have not been able to demonstrate significant differences, but if you include the participants who most often ate the prescribed dose of walnuts, then a positive effect is indeed visible, which concerns the neuropsychological functions”, it sounds.
Maintain a healthy diet
The study makes it clear that following and maintaining a healthy diet is very important for a child’s cognitive and psychological development. “If boys and girls eat a handful of walnuts every day, or at least three times a week, they will notice progress in all kinds of cognitive areas. Adolescence is a period in which the brain undergoes enormous development. Complex behavior and emotions take a lot of energy and nutrients. It is important that these are continuously supplemented,” says lead researcher Ariadna Pinar.
The researchers will soon look further into the effect of the consumption of walnuts and other nuts on pregnant women and their unborn child. The focus is again on the cognitive and psychological development of humans. This follow-up study goes one step further and will follow the child’s eating pattern and development of brain functions for several years after birth.
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