Yummy, Good News! Walnuts Can Boost the Brainpower and EQ of Teenagers!

Teenagers should be advised to “eat a handful of walnuts three times a week for the rest of their lives. They may have a healthier brain with better cognitive function,” Jordi Julvez, PhD, group leader at the Institute of Health Research Pere Virgili and associated researcher at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, told Medscape Medical News.

Julvez is the chief investigator of a new study that shows the benefits of walnuts for young people when it comes to brain power and psychological maturation. The nuts have also helped in reducing symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which has become more prevalent since 2003, with 6 million children and young people afflicted in the US.

Walnuts are “among the richest sources of plant-derived omega-3 fatty acids, particularly alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a precursor for longer-chain EPA and DHA.”

To further understand this type of polyunsaturated fat, Harvard T.H. Chan explained that omega-3 fatty acids are essential fats that must be obtained from food since our body cannot produce them. The three types of Omega-3 fatty acids are: Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which come mainly from fish, and Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), which comes from plants which our body uses for energy.

But ALA shows further potency through its neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory properties which are of great benefit even for adults with cardiovascular disease and those who have suffered stroke and post-stroke depression. Another study has also shown that ALA may be capable of sustaining the integrity of the blood-brain barrier and help to prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

Since brain connectivity and complex behaviors are getting refined during adolescence, the omega-3 fatty acids from walnuts, along with polyphenols and other bioactive compounds, will help in improving cognitive ability, resilience, and performance of developmental tasks among teenagers.

The results of this first-ever multi-school randomized controlled trial were published in Lancet Discovery Science.