It’s pretty common to see these items listed as healthy additions to one’s diet. What’s surprising to a lot of  people is that they can be especially good for your brain. And the most “news-like” element of this article is that certain types have certain and distinct types of benefits for cognition, and weight control.  What type of items are we talking about?

A favorite SNACK for lots of people -- nuts.  First, why are nuts generally considered healthy? Because they are a great high-fat snack to use as an alternative to carbohydrates which many (most?) people get too much of in their diet — too many carbohydrates, not nuts, that is. Some people even say they can eat a couple ounces of nuts to keep them going when they don’t have time for a sit-down meal.Since extremes in any direction don’t seem advisable to us, we wouldn’t suggest a person make a habit of that, but if it’s a choice between eating a lot of nuts, or not eating at all, the nuts would seem like a good decision on an occasional basis.

Studies have provided enough positive findings on nuts and their impact on one’s brain to allow some experts to say they believe adding nuts to your everyday diet may lower your risk of Alzheimer’s Disease and also improve your brain’s ability to cope with the mental challenges we all deal with every day.

But experts also say you should add a variety of nuts to your every day diet. Because studies have found that different types of nuts have different kinds of benefits for your brain.

Research at Loma Linda University found that various types of brainwaves linked to a range of mental processes are influenced by eating nuts. In that research, scientists found that Pistachios were most effective at stimulating Gamma waves. So what are gamma waves good at? Here’s the list:

¨ Improve the brain’s ability to process information,

¨ Maintain accessible memories,

¨ Perceive sensory inputs, and

¨ Enhance sleep.

The researchers in the study found that Peanuts most significantly increase Delta waves, which are linked to:

¨ Immune responses,

¨ Healing, and

¨ Like pistachios, Deep Sleep

Researchers at Tufts University found that Walnuts are especially good at reducing harmful inflammation in the brain. These researchers said that walnuts contain natural compounds that improve the “behavior” of the brain’s microglia. Microglia are immune cells that are intended to protect the brain from infection while eliminating harmful debris from brain tissue. Some people describe the microglia’s function as gathering and getting rid of the brain’s trash. But, when microglia don’t function properly or malfunction, they can make inflammatory changes that cause immune cells to harm neurons, and that can result in brain function and memory suffering. But… in lab tests conducted by the Tufts’ researchers, found that nutrients in walnuts affect the movement of calcium along brain cells and that keeps the microglia functioning properly — under proper control, in other words.

Other tests have also found that walnuts are anti-amnesiac (meaning they prevent memory from disappearing) by keeping acetylcholine, an important neurotransmitter, from breaking down too fast.

And that’s not all walnuts do. A study at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston found walnuts impact a part of the brain known as the right insula. Most people have probably never even heard of the right insula part of the brain, but most people would regard it as pretty important if they did know what it was and what it does… because it is especially important to people who want to keep their weight down. That’s because when the right insula is “more engaged” as the researchers say, it helps people to make healthier choices in what they eat, and they are also less likely to keep eating when they are already full.

The tests in Boston showed that people who consume a diet that “emphasizes” walnuts, have right insulas that help to prevent them from overeating or over-doing their snacking.

Interestingly, these studies actually confirm the merit of what traditional healers have done for thousands of years in the way they have used these nuts and the plants they grow on. For instance, Middle Eastern researchers say that pistachio nuts and the plants they grow on have been used for various brain problems for a very long time. Pistachios, of course, are the nuts found to benefit the brain’s information processing and memory, etc.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t remind you that if you are making dietary choices for particular health benefits, you will always get more “bang for your buck”, if you wash down those foods (or nuts) with Willard’s Water since tests have confirmed that Willard’s Water is one of the best ways to increase your body’s actual absorption and assimilation of nutrients… assimilation right into the cells.

So if you’re eating nuts, or carrots, or anything you really want your body to get the “good out of”, don’t forget your Willard’s Water... some people say they think of it as their “partner” in getting the good out of every good thing they eat or drink.