A team of researchers examined whether a diet high in nuts might help protect against age-related cognitive decline over a three-year period.

A total of 119 participants aged 65 and over with dementia were seleced from the InCHIANTI cohort, a representative population-based study of elderly residents of Chianti, Italy. Participants were seleced based on their nut intake: non-nut consumers and regular nut consumers (≥2.9 g/day).

Nut exposure was measured at the beginning of the study with a validated food frequency questionnaire or with an analytical tool for the characterization of phenolic compounds. In addition, cognitive decline was measured using the Mini-Mental State Examination test.

Researchers found that, from 119 subjects, 38 participants experienced cognitive decline, 28 from the non-nut consumers group and 10 from the nut consumers group. Nut consumption estimated either by the dietary marker or by the urinary marker model was in both cases associated with lower cognitive decline.

"The use of a panel of metabolites provides accurate and complementary information on nut exposure and reinforces the results obtained using dietary information," states Prof. Andrés-Lacueva, ICREA Academia at the University of Barcelona, Group leader of CIBERFES on Frailty and Healthy Aging and principal investigator of the study. The study was supported by the INC.