Consumption of walnuts was linked to better ratings of emotional and mental well-being. Quality of sleep and metabolic indicators both improved with this. Omega-3 & melatonin, as well as other vitamins and minerals linked to brain and digestive system health may all be found in walnuts.
College students might benefit from eating more walnuts in the days leading up to a big test. Walnuts have been demonstrated to improve self-reported indicators of mental health and markers of overall health, according to a recent clinical study of undergraduate students throughout their university studies.
Another study, this one from researchers at the University of South Australia and released in the journal Nutrients, found that eating walnuts during times of stress helped restore the balance of gut bacteria, particularly in women.
The study’s authors, Ph.D. candidate Mauritz Herselman and Associate Professor Larisa Bobrovskaya, say their findings support the increasing body of data connecting walnuts to better brain and gastrointestinal health.
Eighty first-year college students were randomly assigned to either a treatment or a control group, and then tested clinically three times: at the start of the 13-week semester, once around exam time, and once about two weeks following finals. The treatment group received walnuts to eat once per day for 16 weeks across all three time periods.
Compared to students in the treatment group, individuals in the control group reported higher levels of stress and depression in the weeks before examinations. Also, when comparing the first and last visits, those who ate walnuts reported a far more dramatic reduction in depressive symptoms than those who ate the controls.
Associate Professor Larisa Bobrovskaya claims that mental health illnesses are widespread among college students and have a negative impact on both students’ academic performance and their long-term physical health.
