Thursday July 17, 2014 (foodconsumer.org) -- Researchers from NYS Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities in Staten Island, NY, USA published a study suggesting that eating walnuts often may help reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Early studies have shown that walnut extract can inhibit amyloid-β (Aβ) fibrillization, solubilize its fibrils and protect against Aβ-induced oxidative stress and cell death.

In the study, rodents with Alzheimer's disease fed a diet supplemented with either 6% or 9% walnuts had sonically improved memory, leaning ability, anxiety and motor development, compared with those on control diet.

The dose of walnuts used in the study was  1 oz or 1.5 oz per day for humans.

The study concluded "These findings suggest that dietary supplementation with walnuts may have a beneficial effect in reducing the risk, delaying the onset, or slowing the progression of, or preventing AD (Alzheimer's disease)."  9david Liu, PHD)

Muthaiyah B, Essa MM, Lee M, Chauhan V, Kaur K, Chauhan A.  Dietary Supplementation of Walnuts Improves Memory Deficits and Learning Skills in Transgenic Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease.  J Alzheimers Dis. 2014 Jul 11.