Walnuts are known for their numerous health benefits, including supporting gut health, reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes, and fighting certain types of cancer.< /b>
A study has shown that walnuts are also good for mental health. Eating walnuts daily in a small group of undergraduate students has been shown to effectively reduce stress and depression, and counteract the negative effects of stress on gut and metabolic health.
How stress affects mood, gut microbiota, and metabolic health markers
“Stress can affect all systems of the body and is known to cause a number of symptoms. Among them, the most common are sudden changes in mood and appetite, pain, depression and stomach discomfort,” says nutritionist Olga Malyarova specially for MedicForum.
In addition to mood, stress also has a negative impact on the gut and commensal bacteria.
Stress-induced changes in gut microbial composition can also cause imbalance (dysbiosis) and increase the permeability of the intestinal barrier, resulting in “leaky gut” that allows potentially harmful bacteria to leak into the circulation. Gut dysbiosis and decreased diversity of gut commensal bacteria are associated with chronic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Walnuts may help students cope with academic stress
Chronic stress causes dysregulation of the body's stress response system, resulting in chronically high cortisol levels. Excessive amounts of cortisol impair learning and memory, and also disrupt the mesolimbic dopaminergic system, a key component of the brain's reward pathways. The resulting decreased sensitivity to reward eventually leads to depression.
But recent research into dietary interventions that may help prevent stress-induced depression has found that walnut consumption has a positive effects on both cognitive function and mental health.
“These benefits appear to be due to walnuts' abundance of brain nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids, alpha-linolenic acid and tryptophan, as well as cognitive support compounds such as like melatonin, polyphenols, folate and vitamin E,” nutritionist Malyarova comments on the study.
Thanks to these brain-supporting components, as well as the fiber content of walnuts, regular consumption of walnuts is reported to promote gut microbial diversity.
The results showed that walnut consumption stabilized gut microbial diversity during periods of stress.
Another benefit of walnut consumption observed in the experimental group was improved sleep quality. Participants in the walnut group reported that they found it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep through the night after adding walnuts to their daily diet.
“Taken together, the study results suggest that consuming walnuts is beneficial because it may protect from the negative effects of stress on mental, gut and metabolic health.”
MedicForum previously wrote about the symptom of fatty liver disease.
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