A Day's Nuts Can Lower The Risk Of Depression By 17 Percent

Illustration of beans. (Unsplash/Maddi Bazzocco)

JAKARTA - Consuming a handful of nuts every day has proven to be able to reduce the risk of depression by 17 percent, according to scientists.

Information from UK Biobank, an online database containing medical records and lifestyles of about 500,000 Britons, shows middle-aged adults and the elderly consuming 30 grams of nuts every day including walnuts, almonds, Brazilian nuts, mete beans, haterlnuts, and pistachio are in the category of less likely to report use of antidepressants or be diagnosed with depression.

The study has been published in the journal 'Clinical Nutrition'. Researchers speculate that anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties in nuts may have protective effects.

The research team said nuts contain important nutrients in the form of bioactive substances such as phenol or phytosterol, essential micronutrients, fiber, high-quality proteins, single unsaturated and double unsaturated fatty acids, as well as vitamins which can play a useful role in mental health.

"Our findings highlight another benefit of consuming nuts, with a 17 percent drop in depression associated with peanut consumption," said Bruno Bizzozero-Peroni, a researcher at the Center for Health and Social Research at Castilla-La Mancha University in Spain, as reported by The National News December 10.

"This provides a stronger reason for the community to be enthusiastic about consuming nuts," he continued.

As part of the study, the researchers looked at data of more than 13,000 people aged 37 to 73, between 2007 and 2020.

These people did not report depression at the start of the study. The questionnaires were used to assess the consumption of nuts and during research, a diagnosis of depression or the use of antidepressants reported by doctors themselves was noted.

After a follow-up period of more than five years, there were more than 1,100 (8.3 percent) cases of depression.

Research results also show that those who consume low to moderate amounts of nuts defined as one serving of 30 grams per day have a 17 percent lower risk of depression compared to those who don't eat nuts.

The researchers say these findings are despite other factors that may affect mental health such as lifestyles, medical conditions, and body mass indexes.

"Our results highlight the potential role of consumption of nuts as a healthy diet behavior, to prevent depression in those who are free from other depression risk factors, such as obesity, unhealthy lifestyle behavior (smoking, frequently consuming alcohol, low fruit and vegetable intake, less active, inadequate sleep duration), loneliness and medical conditions such as cardiovascular, metabolic, or mental comorbidities," the team said.

Meanwhile, Jenna Macciochi, senior immunology lecturer at the University of Sussex, who was not involved in the study, said: "This study is based on the growing literature in the field of nutrition psychology that suggests that diet is a factor that causes mood disorders."

"In particular, they found a positive relationship between intake of nuts and lower risk of depression than not eating nuts," he explained.

"This research shows a relationship and does not prove a mechanistic effect, but the author suggests some mechanisms that allow the consumption of nuts to work," he continued.

"I think there's still a lot we need to learn about the existing potential mechanism and a deeper understanding of this in the future will be useful when making diet recommendations."

"Meanwhile, the best evidence to support good mental health through a diet may come from a Mediterranean-style anti-inflammatory diet in which nuts are considered as one of its components," he said.