Walnuts help improve mood

Posted on Wed, 18 Jan 17

A daily handful of walnuts may help improve mood within 6-weeks, a new clinical study has found. 

Walnuts are a nutritional powerhouse, full of vitamins, minerals, melatonin, phytonutrients and healthful fats. Experimetnal studies have found that walnuts could improve brain health, and people who consume them regularly may counter depression and age-related cognitive decline [1].

But could advice to eat walnuts daily help? To find out a group otherwise healthy young adults supplemented their diet with ½ cup (or 60 g) of walnuts daily for 6-weeks [2].  

Male participant’s had a non-significant improvements in: tension (−18.61%), depression (−26.52%), anger (−31.15%), vigor (13.42%) and confusion (−6.35%), and a significant medium size improvement in overall mood disturbance score (−27.49%). It is uncertain why the same benefit was not observed in women.  

“Our results are intriguing because small improvements attributable to walnut consumption in healthy, cognitively intact young adults could translate into important outcomes in aging populations,” concluded the study investigators. 

References: 

1. Poulose SM, Miller MG, Shukitt-Hale B. Role of walnuts in maintaining brain health with age. J Nutr. 2014 Apr;144(4 Suppl):561S-566S.
2. Pribis P. Effects of Walnut Consumption on Mood in Young Adults-A Randomized Controlled Trial. Nutrients. 2016 Oct 25;8(11).