Walnuts the new brain food for stressed university students
A new clinical trial of undergraduate students during their university studies has shown positive effects of walnut consumption on self-reported measures of mental health and biomarkers of general health.
The University of South Australia study, published in the journal Nutrients, also suggests that walnuts may counteract the effects of academic stress on the gut microbiota during periods of stress, especially in females.
Lead researchers, PhD student Mauritz Herselman and Associate Professor Larisa Bobrovskaya, say the results add to the growing body of evidence linking walnuts with improved brain and gut health.
[...] "We found that those who consumed about half a cup of walnuts every day showed improvements in self-reported mental health indicators. Walnut consumers also showed improved metabolic biomarkers and overall sleep quality in the longer term."
[...] "We have shown that consuming walnuts during stressful periods can improve mental health and general wellbeing in university students, as well as being a healthy and delicious snack and a versatile ingredient in many recipes, to fight some negative effects of academic stress," Assoc Prof Bobrovskaya says.
Journal Reference:
Mauritz F. Herselman et al., Nutrients 2022, 14(22), 4776; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14224776
Believe it or 'nut', almonds can help you cut calories
Weight loss is never an easy nut to crack, but a handful of almonds could keep extra kilos at bay:
Examining how almonds can affect appetite, researchers found that a snack of 30-50 grams of almonds could help people cut back on the number of kilojoules they consume each day.
Published in the European Journal of Nutrition, the study found that people who consumed almonds – as opposed to an energy-equivalent carbohydrate snack - lowered their energy intake by 300 kilojoules (most of which came from junk food) at the subsequent meal.
[...] "Our research examined the hormones that regulate appetite, and how nuts – specifically almonds - might contribute to appetite control."
"We found that people who ate almonds experienced changes in their appetite-regulating hormones, and that these may have contributed to reduced food intake (by 300kJ)."
[...] "Almonds are a fantastic healthy snack to incorporate into the daily diet. We are now excited to look at how almonds might affect appetite during a weight loss diet and how they might assist with weight management in the long term."
Journal Reference:
Carter, S., Hill, A.M., Buckley, J.D. et al. Acute feeding with almonds compared to a carbohydrate-based snack improves appetite-regulating hormones with no effect on self-reported appetite sensations: a randomised controlled trial. Eur J Nutr (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-022-03027-2
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Wednesday December 28 2022, @12:08AM (8 children)
As someone who dropped 110 lbs 15 years ago, I'll tell you what lowers your weight: eating fewer calories than you burn. Period.
As for lowering your stress level, it's possible I guess. Although I suspect therapy, or simply getting a job at a less stressful place or finally getting that divorce - or resolving whatever is going wrong in your life - might be a better idea than popping walnuts and almonds all day.
(Score: 4, Informative) by RamiK on Wednesday December 28 2022, @01:14AM
This is no longer the case. The new generation of diet pills sabotages your metabolism to such a degree that it enables you to eat more while losing weight WHILE suppressing appetite so people don't compensate by overeating: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semaglutide#Mechanism_of_action [wikipedia.org] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlistat#Mechanism_of_action [wikipedia.org]
It's so good that there's a whole black market for it.
compiling...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by optotronic on Wednesday December 28 2022, @02:54AM
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 28 2022, @03:07AM
Very droll.
The missing ingredient is how to make those changes. If it's discipline and self-punishment, it won't last. If it's the motivational equivalent of high carb energy drinks, it won't last. You have to get to a point where you see quick fix quackery as the hamster wheel that it is - you have to actually see it, from start to end, in the same way you wouldn't pick up a delicious dog turd and smear it on your face.
That's the part we need help with.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday December 28 2022, @02:43PM (4 children)
You are correct.
Many MDs deliver this message by telling their patients: "move more, eat less."
Unfortunately, psychology plays a much stronger role in behavior than any simple tidbit of knowledge, and studies have shown: telling people "eat less and move more" is basically ineffective at achieving weight loss, even when coupled with all the other stated benefits of weight loss to a healthy range.
Something cognitive therapy largely misses are the biochemical drivers of behavior, and the gut is a huge factor there. The microbiota of the gut don't listen to cognitive messaging but they certainly change their biochemical feedback based on what you eat and when.
On the movement side, some people respond more strongly than others to endorphins released by exercise. Then there are factors like joint health, free time, weather and other access to exercise, etc.
Glad the simple message worked for you. Zero calorie intake is an effective weight loss strategy for a lot of people who have large amounts of weight to lose, if they can manage the medical monitoring for adverse side effects.
In-between "eat what you like" and zero calorie, there is a whole spectrum of issues that lead to limited success losing weight in today's society.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 28 2022, @03:50PM (1 child)
Not the whole story though. For example - it's missing the poop part. Some people poop out more calories than others could be overall or for certain foods (one extreme example are the lactose intolerant bunch but there are others too).
Also different people have different responses to food from blood sugar, to digestion etc. Yes some stuff could be true for a large percentage of people but don't be too surprised if it's not working for you and that you actually have to figure out what works for you.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151119143445.htm [sciencedaily.com]
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/huge-differences-even-when-people-ate-the-same-foods/ [cbsnews.com]
(Score: 1, Redundant) by darkfeline on Wednesday December 28 2022, @11:08PM
While some people can eat a lot without getting fat, no one can get fat without eating. That is a way to absolve oneself of personal responsibility: "it's not because I eat too much; look, some people can eat a lot without getting fat! It's not my fault!"
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 5, Interesting) by ElizabethGreene on Wednesday December 28 2022, @03:59PM (1 child)
My expectation is that here in another decade or so we'll identify a (common in the USA, less so internationally) food ingredient or additive that fiddles with the ghrelin regulation system. The food and beverage industry will hem and haw about it for a couple more decades, and as it phases out we'll start to see the obesity curve taper down. God forbid it's something corn-related; If it is we'll still be ignoring the problem a century from now.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday December 28 2022, @05:30PM
In our house 3/4 of us are "gluten intolerant" to varying degrees... I suspect it isn't really gluten that messes us up, but something correlated with gluten in the food supply. I have seen theories about "short wheat" and I am sure there are other things...
Like AC said, there are no doubt many different mechanisms for many different subsets of the population, divided by human genetics but to a larger degree by gut flora and other "state variables.". I agree that corn, and to a lesser degree soybeans and wheat interests will be doing their best to stall effective research into anything that threatens their dynastic cash flow.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 28 2022, @02:31AM
Did anyone else read "Divine Right's Trip" when it was serialized in the Whole Earth Catalog? Forgot which version, but I do remember eagerly flipping through the pages of the Catalog to find the next installment.
The hero meets a variety of characters while on the road in his VW bus. One is a guy in a toga, aka "The Greek", who talks philosophy nonstop and only eats walnuts (making my random post ON TOPIC!) The Greek sort of reminds me of our dear departed (or, good riddance) Ari, here on SN.
The story is both a great sendup of (and at the same time a tender look at) USA hippie culture c.1970. I didn't realize that it was also published as a book, just read it from the Open Library when I saw this item in the SN story queue.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 28 2022, @03:29AM (3 children)
Amonds contain cyanide, particularly bitter almonds
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 28 2022, @03:39AM
Cyanide contains carbon, locking it away to prevent global warming, so...
(Score: 0, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 28 2022, @04:13AM
Don't like the bitter taste? Try deez nuts.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 28 2022, @04:47AM
Better to eat Almond Joy, less bitter, with more tasty fructose and saturated fat. Not so salty.
(Score: 5, Informative) by krishnoid on Wednesday December 28 2022, @03:57AM (13 children)
But there's a lot of peer-reviewed studies circa 2015 about the 150+ minutes of (brisk) walking that helps everything from bone density to neurochemistry. And it's walking/running in particular; aerobic exercise in general is good, but walking in particular helps with bone density and bone marrow health, I'm guessing due to the repetitive low-intensity impact at least on the feet and legs.
As an example, recent studies on osteocalcin [nih.gov] show that if you increase blood levels of this hormone in the mouse model, it improves memory in older mice. Since the bone marrow generates this hormone, though, I think they identified that walking produces it too. If you talk to your doctor and they say you should walk, press them on it and ask if it's walking in particular or exercise in general, like bicycling, etc. I hope they can provide you with at least the bullet points regarding walking in particular.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 28 2022, @04:51AM (7 children)
There's also an article - that I can't locate now - which gives the single most potent dietary change you can make to prevent all manner of modern ailments: wait for it.... wait for it....
Fiber. Doesn't matter what kind or what source, no fancy proprietary blend, just more fiber. Could be walnuts, could be cardboard, it don't matter. Whatever it takes to sustainably eat more fiber, do that.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 28 2022, @05:34AM (2 children)
Oatmeal is an obvious choice. Cheap, neutral taste, and versatile.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 28 2022, @10:32AM (1 child)
Another is psyllium husk powder...a kind of grass seed. Mix it with iced tea or orange juice. Drink immediately after mixing before it absorbs water and becomes a large gelatinous mass. That's supposed to happen in the stomach after ingestion.
It will expand, fill you up, you won't wanna eat for a while until this mass goes through. And when it does, it's almost like you've been cleaned out with a sponge.
I have found this stuff really useful when I overindulge in some greasy stuff and it becomes almost impossible to clean the wipey-wipey end.
.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 28 2022, @12:24PM
Ground flax seed (kept in the fridge) keeps things moving nicely for me. About a half teaspoon with morning cereal.
And a cheap bidet that bolts under the toilet seat deals with most of the mess at that end, saves a lot of tp in the septic tank.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Wednesday December 28 2022, @08:50PM (3 children)
There's also the bulk vs. soluble fiber distinction, both of which are good for you in different ways. Along the lines of what you said, one thing a lazy nutritionist [youtube.com] said in one of her YouTube shorts that stuck with me is to *add* to your diet, rather than subtract. Which makes sense, because if you add the better stuff in first, you'll hopefully be too full to eat too much of the stuff you shouldn't be eating.
Michael Pollan's point about "eat food" is also valid; it's preferable to eat rather than drink your food, and when you eat, eat *food* itself; bias towards more whole, fresher things that you can consider to be "food", in preference to processed or preserved things that lean more towards being partial/separated food "product". I bet coevolving alongside fruits and vegetables produced selection pressure that directed species towards extracting benefits from slower processes -- maybe even including the muscular components -- of extended mastication, tasting, and partial swallowing of foods.
Don't know how much of a reproductive or gestational benefit it confers, but for a multi-week pregnancy, one can imagine extracting marginally better nutrition from consumed foods would improve infant survival and health.
(Score: 1) by BeaverCleaver on Friday December 30 2022, @04:04AM (2 children)
I disagree. Too often, I see the message that all we need to do is eat one more thing and that will make us healthy. Today it's walnuts and almonds, last month it was blueberries, the month before it was some other "superfood." Another poster mentioned eating more fibre. All of the supplements I have mentioned are "good" but none of them will offset too many calories from processed foods, or soft drinks, or smoothies.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Friday December 30 2022, @05:08AM (1 child)
I think she also mentioned that she disagrees with all those "one more thing" superfood videos. Her point is more about front-loading your meals with healthier lazy-to-cook food (rather than supplements). She buys those vegetable-in-a-bag things and steams or quick-cooks or steams much of it, along with some seasoning and some easy protein.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 31 2022, @07:32AM
Front loading is the way to get kids to eat their vegetables. Put a cup of sliced carrots out while you're cooking dinner and the kids will wander in hungry and grab one.
(Score: 4, Informative) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday December 28 2022, @02:50PM (3 children)
>I'm guessing due to the repetitive low-intensity impact at least on the feet and legs.
I worked with doctors researching this area for a while. They were finding that the pulsatile blood flow in walking/jogging causes the release of many beneficial mediators from blood vessel walls, starting with Nitric Oxide which is a powerful vasodilator that increases blood flow in the major organs (and is toxic in large doses, but your body doesn't carry/release enough to reach toxic thresholds).
Unfortunately, there's no pill for this effect, and the devices we developed aren't commercially profitable:. https://www.gentlejogger.com/ [gentlejogger.com]
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2, Flamebait) by krishnoid on Wednesday December 28 2022, @06:26PM (2 children)
That's very informative, let me mod it up -- oh right, I haven't gotten mod points for a couple weeks. Wait, they're working today! You're in luck, it's a saturnalia miracle.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday December 28 2022, @07:05PM (1 child)
>I haven't gotten mod points for a couple weeks. Wait, they're working today!
Mine too.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 29 2022, @01:12AM
My mod points are back too. When did this happen? (haven't been here for ~12 hours)
And most importantly, who do we thank???
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Wednesday December 28 2022, @06:53PM
Duh, can't believe I didn't point this out in the original post -- the walking studies don't mention much about weight loss itself. They just show health benefits across a huge swath of everything *else* in the body, including (I believe) body-mass-adjacent health issues.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by EvilSS on Wednesday December 28 2022, @05:52AM (2 children)
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Wednesday December 28 2022, @05:54AM
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 28 2022, @05:06PM
Yeah, no wonder they don't mention the risks and danger of aflatoxins.
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/substances/aflatoxins [cancer.gov]
That said it can be found in other stuff like corn too:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6787635/ [nih.gov]
(Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Wednesday December 28 2022, @03:55PM
and if you've never heard of that song, go check it out. english translation is sufficent; the melody is what is haunting and memorable.
GOML
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."