Eat nuts in your 40s to cut down the risk of dementia later in life

Elders have been telling us to include nuts in our diet, so as to keep our brain healthy and active. Now, a study has substantiated this claim. Even if you have not been eating them all your life, incorporating nuts in your diet mid-life onwards, can help cut down the risk of dementia as you age.

According to a report in The Independent, researchers at the National University of Singapore followed almost 17,000 people between 1993 and 2016, so as to assess their diets and then their cognitive function. It was found in the study that people who began consuming nuts in their 40s — twice a week or more — were more than one-fifth less likely to have memory problems when they were over 60, as opposed to those who ate nuts less than around once a month.

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Per the report, the study was published in the journal Age and Ageing. It also suggested that those who ate nuts once a week, experienced nearly the same benefit, as they were 19 per cent less likely to have impaired cognitive function in their 60s, 70s and 80s.

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Previously, researchers have found that consuming nuts could improve people’s thinking, memory and reasoning by up to 60 per cent, as opposed to those who didn’t eat nuts at all. The said study was conducted in 2019 by the University of South Australia, with almost 5,000 over-55 participants. It was found eating just two teaspoons of nuts per day improved cognitive function for them.

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