It is naive to rely on walnuts alone

“Shaping a shape” seems to be an ancient wisdom. Therefore, a walnut that looks like a brain is often used as a brain-boosting product. But there are also people who scoff at it: Do walnuts have scientific evidence?

Speak with scientific research

Some recent scientific studies suggest that walnuts may not completely deny that walnuts may have certain benefits for long-term brain health and cognitive function.

Studies abroad have shown that increasing the intake of nut foods, especially walnuts, can improve the cognitive ability of middle-aged and elderly people. More nut intake is related to memory, cognitive flexibility, speed of information processing, and overall cognitive improvement.

Another three-year study showed that eating virgin olive oil + 30g nuts (15g walnuts, 7.5g almonds, 7.5g hazelnuts) daily, compared to only virgin olive oil without nuts, or eating low fat People with diets can continue to increase the concentration of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in plasma and have a role in combating depression and cognitive deterioration caused by aging.

Diets rich in walnut or walnut oil can also reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease is a risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases, aging-related cognitive decline, and is closely related to the occurrence and development of cerebrovascular diseases, stroke, and mild cognitive impairment. The addition of walnuts to the diet can reduce the inflammatory response in hypercholesterolaemia patients and reduce the risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease. It can also improve the endothelium-dependent vasodilation in type 2 diabetes and in overweight adults.

It seems that adding some walnut or walnut oil to the diet can indeed have a beneficial effect on the body, which in turn can indirectly promote the healthy state of brain function.

Just rely on walnuts to make brain, a little naive

So in a sense, walnuts are really brainy. It's just that it's not the coolest brain hero, because it will do something, other foods will.

To put it plainly, the reason for the above-mentioned health effects is that it mainly depends on two things: antioxidants and alpha-linolenic acid.

And we want to get these two healthy things, walnuts are not the best source of food.

Like other nuts, vegetables, fruits, etc., which we would normally consume in larger quantities, the content of antioxidants is absolutely not lost to walnuts. The content of α-linolenic acid in walnuts is 10.4%, which is similar to that of pine nuts.

Moreover, the content of α-linolenic acid (ALA) in soybean oil and canola oil we eat frequently is 6% to 10%, and flaxseed oil and perilla seed oil exceed 50%. Street, ah.

The most important thing is that you need to absorb and use your own food after you eat it. Unless you are a vegan, the conversion rate of ALA to DHA (a component beneficial to the brain) is only 2% to 5%. It's really quite limited.

If you count an account, 100g walnut contains about 9g of ALA, according to this conversion rate, in order to get 250mg of DHA, you need to eat about 60 ~ 140g of walnuts per day, far more than the recommended daily intake of nuts (about 25g ).

Science "Brain" is not responsible for "supplementing IQ"

With regard to "brain-brain," the definition of our average consumer and scientists is not consistent. Our expectation of “brain-brain” may be the ability to increase intelligence, relieve brain fatigue quickly, and enhance learning and work. The main areas of scientific research are the development and aging of the brain.

Indeed, the study found that the daily intake of a small amount of nuts, including walnuts, helps to delay the aging process of the brain and reduce the risk of diseases including stroke.

However, until now, there has been no direct research evidence that after eating walnuts, people's IQ can be raised in the short term, or test scores can be improved.

Moreover, science will tell you a sad fact: Most people's intelligence will peak around the age of 20 to 30 years, and then it will be difficult to improve. Therefore, taking advantage of youth, doing things seriously, accumulating experience, and exercising the mind's thinking ability are the most reliable methods.

Eat walnuts with stress

Although walnuts did not meet everyone’s expectation, it was also a good nut. A small amount of nutty foods will be eaten in small quantities every day. It will have a long-term effect in improving the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular related indicators and making the brain grow older. However, it should be noted that:

Too sweet: When you eat foods that contain walnuts such as crunch sugar, sesame sugar, snacks, desserts, and drinks, you will eat a lot of sugar, and “too much sugar” is not conducive to delaying brain aging.

Too salty: Some of the more "tasteful" walnut products add a lot of salt, while too much salt is not conducive to the prevention of hypertension and stroke, harmful to the health of the brain.

Too dry: If you bake too much dried or over-dried walnuts, eating too much may cause discomfort in the mouth and throat, especially in dry spring.