Research Shows Nuts and Berries Support Brain Health with Key Nutrients

Versatile and delicious, nuts and berries have earned their place in research-proven, brain-healthy diets—from savory walnuts to ripe strawberries blended into a smoothie.

“Nuts and berries contain nutrients important for brain health, including minerals, vitamins, fiber, good fats, and other plant compounds. But they aren’t magic bullets,” says Madhureeta Achari, MD, FAAN, FTNS, a neurologist in private practice in Houston, TX. “They work as part of a fresh, seasonal, healthy diet.”

Research supports this approach. In a study published in JAMA in July 2025, working memory and mental processing speed improved for 2,111 older adults who followed the produce-packed MIND (Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) diet. It emphasizes eating berries and nuts along with leafy greens, fish, good fats, and whole grains with limited amounts of butter, fried food, red meat, and sweets. For the study, called U.S. POINTER, participants also exercised regularly; socialized; played brain-stimulating games; and managed their blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels.

“POINTER provides a roadmap to address the foundational causes of neurodegenerative disease, so many of which are rooted in lifestyle issues like diet and exercise,” says Laurel Cherian, MD, associate professor of neurology at Rush University in Chicago, who is studying the MIND diet’s potential benefits for stroke survivors.

Meanwhile, in a study published in Neurology in 2023, Dr. Cherian and other researchers found that the MIND diet was associated with having less Alzheimer’s disease-related brain plaque. The researchers found similar benefits for the Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes eating produce, good fats, and whole grains with a wider variety of fruits and less-frequent nuts than the MIND diet. People who followed diets like these developed Parkinson’s disease eight to 17 years later than those who didn’t, according to a 2021 Canadian study published in the journal Movement Disorders. Other studies have found lower risk for cognitive decline, too.

Some research suggests a special role for sweet berries and crunchy nuts. In a 2022 report in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, people with the highest intake of pelargonidin (an anti-inflammatory compound found in berries) or strawberries had the smallest amounts of tau (protein tangles in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease). The high-intake group ate a little more than one serving per week.

The brilliant blue, purple, red, and orange skins of berries are signs that these fruits contain plant compounds called anthocyanins, which may support brain health by reducing inflammation and disarming cell-damaging free radicals, Dr. Achari says.

“There is also evidence that compounds in berries may have more direct effects on the brain by supporting neurosignalling,” Dr. Cherian says. Both also provide fiber, which nourishes beneficial bacteria in your gut, Dr. Achari adds. Emerging research suggests these “good bugs” may play a role in brain health by producing compounds that influence mood and cognition.

Nuts, meanwhile, deliver healthy mono- and polyunsaturated fats, polyphenols, and phytosterols that also might discourage inflammation and guard brain cells from harm, Dr. Cherian notes. Research about nuts is mixed, however. A Spanish study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2022 tracked 6,603 older adults for two years, finding that those who ate three or more small servings of mixed nuts weekly had less age-related cognitive decline than those who ate less than one weekly serving. But a recent review of five well-designed studies, published in Frontiers in Nutrition in 2024, found no special cognitive benefits for nuts.

“We really can’t isolate just one or two ingredients and say they’re sufficient or even especially important for brain health,” says Demetrius M. Maraganore, MD, FAAN, co-director of the Tulane Center for Clinical Neurosciences and professor and chair of the department of neurology at Tulane University. “It takes an overall healthy diet. Nuts and berries have unique qualities, but so do other good fats and fruits. You can’t eat some nuts or berries and have cheeseburgers and fries the rest of the time and expect brain benefits. And you can promote brain health with a healthy diet that doesn’t include them.”

Dr. Archari points out that variety also is key. “A healthy gut microbiome likes a diverse diet,” she says. “You need variety in your diet. You won’t get that by having one kind of nut or one kind of berry every day.”

Fit Them Into Your Diet

Here’s how neurologists and registered dietitians recommend including nuts and berries in your meals and snacks:

Make them part of an overall brain-healthy diet.
Dr. Maraganore suggests following the Mediterranean diet, which recommends consuming olive oil, fruit, vegetables, beans, fish, and good fats while limiting red meat, butter, commercial sweets, and soda. The Mediterranean diet calls for three or more daily fruit servings and three or more weekly nut servings. (In the U.S. POINTER study, participants had a daily half-cup serving of berries—strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries—plus five weekly 1-ounce servings of nuts.)

“The focus should be on maintaining a healthy diet pattern,” Dr. Cherian says.

If you don’t like, or don’t have, any nuts or berries on hand, Dr. Maraganore says not to worry. “All types of fruit are beneficial,” he notes. “And you don’t have to reach every goal every week. I try to have three handfuls of nuts a week, but not always.”

Go for variety.
“Don’t have the same berries or nuts all the time,” Dr. Achari says. “Mix it up. Eat produce that’s in season. It will be fresher, taste great, and have more nutrients because it wasn’t shipped and stored before it was sold.” She suggests eating a full range of berries—a botanical group that actually includes avocados, bananas, eggplant, kiwifruit, and tomatoes.

Pair them at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Add berries and nuts to yogurt or hot and cold cereal, suggests Jennifer Ventrelle, RDN, an assistant professor in clinical nutrition at Rush University in Chicago and co-author of The Official MIND Diet: A Scientifically Based Program to Lose Weight and Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease (Little, Brown Spark). They taste great together in green salads, too, Dr. Achari says.

Have berries for a low-calorie dessert.
A cup of strawberry halves has just 48 calories, while blueberries have 84. Ventrelle suggests having a bowl of berries for dessert or adding them to a fruit salad. Or, keep frozen berries on hand; add them to a blender to make a smoothie or defrost them for a quick treat.

“Frozen berries are a great option if fresh berries are out of season or you don’t think you’ll eat them all before they go bad,” Ventrelle says. “They’re the next best thing to fresh.”

Snack, sprinkle, or spread nuts.
Nuts are calorically dense; 1 ounce (generally a small handful) amounts to 185 calories for walnuts, 196 for pecans, and 164 for almonds.

“A little goes a long way here,” Dr. Cherian says. “About a quarter-cup a day, which is basically a handful, is all you need. You can crush and sprinkle them on salads to get a lot of flavor with fewer calories.”

Sprinkling chopped nuts on chia pudding is another great way to get lots of flavor and crunch without over-doing calories, says Amy Bragagnini, MS, RD, CSO, a clinical dietitian at Trinity Health Richard J. Lacks Cancer Center in Grand Rapids, MI, and a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

“One of my ‘go-to’ afternoon snacks is to toast pistachios, which brings out their rich flavor, and then sprinkle them on top of sliced apples topped with almond butter,” she says. “It is not only delicious but filled with fiber and protein, so it helps me feel satisfied until dinner.”

Dr. Achari recommends filling a small mason jar with a serving of nuts and carrying it in your purse or backpack for a pre-portioned snack. Nut butters, including peanut and almond butters, also are a great option, she says.

Be careful with Brazil nuts.
A single Brazil nut contains slightly more than the recommended daily allowance for selenium; eating too many could lead to high levels in the body and may cause bad breath, nausea, and fatigue, warns the National Institutes of Health. Stick with one or two Brazil nuts once in a while, Dr. Achari says.

Grow your own.
A sunny backyard is the perfect home for blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, and strawberry plants, typically planted in early spring. Strawberries also can grow in containers on a sunny patio or deck. Check your local garden center for more information about growing berries in your area.