Quick snack: Walnuts can help men stay happy

Regular consumption leads to mood improvement in young, healthy males

NEW YORK: A handful of walnuts every day can help young men happily tackle life’s daily stress as this nutrient-dense snack can lead to a happier state-of-mind, suggests a new study. Researchers found a significant improvement in the mood of young, healthy males who consumed walnuts every day for eight weeks.

“In the past, studies on walnuts have shown beneficial effects on many health outcomes such as heart disease, diabetes and obesity,” said Peter Pribis, a Professor at University of New Mexico in the US.

“Our study was different because we focused on cognition, and in this controlled randomised trial (CRT) we measured mood outcomes in males and females.”

The participants of the study were 64 students between the ages of 18 and 25. The participants were asked to eat three slices of banana bread every day for 16 weeks — eight weeks of banana bread with walnuts and eight weeks of banana bread without walnuts.

The nuts were finely ground into the dough so the two banana breads were similar in taste and appearance. While eating banana bread with walnuts the participants consumed half a cup of walnuts daily.

The mood of the students was measured at the end of each eight-week period. The researchers found that consumption of walnuts led to a significant improvement in mood in young, healthy males.

“In non-depressed healthy young males, walnuts seem to have the ability to improve mood,” the study, published in the journal Nutrients, said. “There was a meaningful, 28% improvement of mood in young men,” Pribis pointed out.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2016.

Like Life & Style on Facebook, follow @ETLifeandStyle on Twitter for the latest in fashion, gossip and entertainment.