Australian researchers claim that these dried fruits can help fight stress related to studying and university exams in particular.
It is Nutrients magazine that reports the conclusions of a study conducted by researchers from the University of South Australia. While a large majority of college students say they are stressed during their college years, according to these scientists, adding nuts to their diet would be enough to combat that anxiety.
56 grams of nuts per day
To arrive at their conclusion, the scientists involved 80 undergraduate students. Two groups were formed from this body.
If participants in the first preferred to eat a two-ounce (or 56-gram) serving of nuts per day for 16 weeks, participants in the second did not need to make any changes to their usual diet.
Assessment of the level of anxiety
The stress level was then measured three times: at the beginning of the semester, during the exams and two weeks after the exam time.
The authors summarize:
We found that those who ate about half a cup of nuts each day showed improvements in self-reported mental health indicators. Walnut eaters also showed improved metabolic biomarkers and overall longer-term sleep quality.
Nuts: vitamins and trace elements
We know that nuts are excellent allies for our health. Rich in omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants, they also contain melatonin, which reminds us of WhyDoctor, which promotes falling asleep and therefore better sleep.
Professor Larisa Bobrovskaya, co-author of the study, summarized the interest of this research as follows:
In addition to being a healthy and tasty snack and a versatile ingredient found in many recipes, we’ve shown that eating nuts can improve the mental health and overall well-being of university students during times of stress – and at the same time helps combat certain negative effects of school stress.
However, she notes that further studies need to clarify the conclusions.