Eating This Salty Snack Could Improve Your Brain Function

Adding peanuts to your diet can improve memory and brain function.

A new study — published Nov. 1 in the Clinical Nutrition journal — recruited 31 healthy adults aged 60 to 75 and required them to eat 60 grams, approximately two servings, of unsalted skin-roasted peanuts every day for 16 weeks.

Using advanced brain imaging, researchers at Maastricht University Medical Center found that consuming peanuts daily increased blood flow to the brain by 3.6%.

“Cerebral blood flow is an important physiological marker of brain vascular function and refers to the amount of blood that flows through the brain, delivering oxygen and nutrients that are essential for maintaining brain health,” Dr. Peter Joris, study author and associate professor at the university’s Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, said in a statement.

“We found that longer-term consumption of unsalted, skin-roasted peanuts improved global CBF, which suggests an overall enhancement in brain vascular function.”

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The study also found that participants showed a 5.8% improvement in verbal memory. Additionally, researchers noted that blood pressure and pulse pressure both decreased among participants.

“The peanut intervention also resulted in increased blood flow in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, both of which are important for memory and other cognitive functions,” study authors said.

Scientists say this study is encouraging because eating peanuts could possibly reduce the risk for dementia, which increases as people age, since blood vessel function in the brain can become impaired.

“The number of people who suffer from age-related cognitive decline or are diagnosed with dementia is increasing rapidly,” Joris told PsyPost. “As researchers studying nutrition and brain health, we are very interested in how the food we consume can support healthy aging. Peanuts are widely consumed, affordable, and nutrient-dense, yet relatively little was known about their specific effects on the brain.”

“Our results suggest that eating unsalted, skin-roasted peanuts every day can support brain health as we age,” he added.