A study shows that eating walnuts on a daily basis may improve adolescents’ sustained attention and intelligence scores of adolescents.

According to researchers, walnuts contain a considerable amount of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an omega-3 fatty acid that is required for the body and plays an important role in brain development, particularly in the early stages.

The study, published in the journal eClinicalMedicine, shows that a healthy, balanced diet rich in vital nutrients, such as those found in walnuts, can help teenagers’ cognitive and psychological development.

The principal investigator and coordinator of the Neuro Èpia Research Group of the Institut d’Investigacio Sanitaria Pere Virgili (IISPV), Spain, Jordi Julvez said, “Adolescence is a period of brain refinement, connectivity, and complex behaviors, so it remains sensitive to a number of environmental and lifestyle factors, including diet, from which it requires a large amount of energy and nutrients for proper development”.

Julvez explains, “Walnuts are a nutrient-dense food and a rich plant-based source of ALA, an omega-3 fatty acid that provides energy and is essential for the body and its development. For this reason, walnuts are a great ally of adolescent health”.

This study included 700 volunteers, mainly high school students between 11 and 16 years of age from 12 different high schools.

The participants were randomized into two groups at random: the control and the experimental.

The experimental group was given packets containing 30 grams of walnuts (equivalent to a handful) and told to eat them every day for 6 months.

Participants who ate walnuts for at least 100 days improved their attention functions and those who had indications of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) behaved better in class, paying more attention to the teacher and being less hyperactive.

Furthermore, the researchers discovered an increase in functions associated with fluid intelligence, which is less influenced by learning and inherent to a person’s DNA.

Researchers said, “Participants who adhered to the suggested dose of walnuts and the number of days consumed improved their neuropsychological functions”.

The study’s authors intend to perform a second observational trial to examine the effect of walnut consumption throughout pregnancy, with a focus on newborn cognitive development and psychological maturation.

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