Abstract
Walnuts contain a number of potentially neuroprotective compounds like vitamin E, folate, melatonin, several antioxidative polyphenols and significant amounts of ω-3 fatty acids. The present study sought to determine the effect of walnuts on mood in healthy volunteers. Sixty-four college students were randomly assigned to two treatment sequences in a crossover fashion: walnut–placebo or placebo–walnut. At baseline mood was assessed using Profiles of Mood States (POMS). Data was collected again after eight weeks of intervention. After six-weeks of washout, the intervention groups followed the diets in reverse order. Data was collected once more at the end of the eight-week intervention period. No significant changes in mood were observed in the analyses with both genders combined and in females. However, we have observed a significant medium effect size improvement in the Total Mood Disturbance score (−27.49%, p = 0.043, Cohen’s d = 0.708) in males. In non-depressed healthy young males, walnuts seem to have the ability to improve mood.
Highlights
Numerous epidemiological and clinical trials have suggested that regular nut consumption has a beneficial effect on many health outcomes such as coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, gallstones, weight gain over time, obesity, visceral obesity, metabolic syndrome, cancer and total mortality [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
Alone or as part of healthy dietary patterns, may exert beneficial effects due to their richness in antioxidants, including vitamins, polyphenols and unsaturated fatty acids, that may be protective against the development of cognitive decline and depression [8,9]
also contain ω-3 α-linolenic acid (ALA) is the precursor of Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5n-3) and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n-3) [12]
Summary
Numerous epidemiological and clinical trials have suggested that regular nut consumption has a beneficial effect on many health outcomes such as coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, gallstones, weight gain over time, obesity, visceral obesity, metabolic syndrome, cancer and total mortality [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. A number of studies have suggested significant protective effect of nuts against depression, mild cognitive disorders and Alzheimer’s disease [1]. Alone or as part of healthy dietary patterns, may exert beneficial effects due to their richness in antioxidants, including vitamins, polyphenols and unsaturated fatty acids, that may be protective against the development of cognitive decline and depression [8,9]. Walnuts contain ω-3 α-linolenic acid (ALA; 18:3n-3) that can directly interact with the physiology of the brain. There is growing evidence that the synergy and interaction of all the nutrients and other bioactive components in nuts have beneficial effect on brain and cognition [12]. Studies regarding the effects of nuts consumption on cognitive functions are scarce. Most of the research on the relationship between nut consumption and cognitive functions has been done using animals or pathological populations [14,15]
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