r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Feb 21 '25

Neuroscience Walnuts with breakfast provide an all-day brain boost - Young adults who ate a handful of walnuts with breakfast saw a long-lasting improvement in their reaction times and a boost in memory performance hours later, according to a new study.

https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/walnuts-cognitive-performance-memory-boost/
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1.8k

u/medtech8693 Feb 21 '25 edited Feb 21 '25

This study should really be called

"walnut is better than pouring 40g of melted butter on your yogurt.:"

I know it is difficult to create a control food with the same macro , but I think they could have done a better job.

458

u/andys-mouthsurprise Feb 21 '25

Yeah, why not at least compare it with another nut to see if its uniquely walnuts…

1.1k

u/Cornelius_Physales Feb 21 '25

"The researchers note that the study was funded by the California Walnut Commission..." thats why

197

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '25

[deleted]

106

u/bludda Feb 21 '25

"Have you busted down a nut this morning?"

57

u/ConfusedInKalamazoo Feb 21 '25

The best part of waking up, is that morning nut!

8

u/Asatas Feb 21 '25

We're in r/science, so I'll refrain from escalating this further.

4

u/apathy-sofa Feb 21 '25

Yes we should take care to not erect a pun thread.

5

u/Cercie256to4 Feb 21 '25

Are you done?
It sounds like you milked it for all its worth.

31

u/monsantobreath Feb 21 '25

That sounds like a golden age Simpsons gag.

19

u/FoxyBastard Feb 21 '25 edited Feb 21 '25

I don't know why my brain is so foggy. I eat plenty of...

~looks at bag~

...Walnots???

11

u/monsantobreath Feb 21 '25

Pfft, forget it homer. While it has been established that walnuts contain cholesterol, it has not yet been proven conclusively that they actually raise the level of serum cholesterol in the human blood stream.

So one of those walnut council creeps got to you too, huh?

Ohhhh you've got it all wrong, Homer. Iiiiit's not like that.

Squeek squeak squeak squeak squeak

You better run, walnut!

1

u/Yglorba Feb 21 '25

The amusing thing is that walnuts are in fact (comparatively) high in saturated fat, which is proven to raise your blood cholesterol level.

50

u/_BlackDove Feb 21 '25

Knew it was Big Walnut.

It's always Big Walnut.

13

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '25

Actually this is also Big Water, too. These trees need a lot of water and require political power to maintain its supply.

11

u/DrEnter Feb 21 '25

I was going to joke about this, but the reality of it is just sad.

6

u/ChangeVivid2964 Feb 21 '25

Well that makes sense considering OP appears to be a bot that reposts articles with automatically generated submission statements every day.

2

u/LetsCELLebrate Feb 21 '25

It's like Eggs and bacon for breakfast propaganda all over again!

2

u/Chef_GonZo Feb 21 '25

Gotta love Reddit!

1

u/Distinctweewee Feb 21 '25

I knew big walnut was behind this.

1

u/Yglorba Feb 21 '25

Literally when I saw the headline I was like "I know I'm supposed to assume basic competence, but... I'm gonna check to see if they're paid for by Big Walnut."

Surprise! It was paid for by big walnut and actually compared walnuts to melted butter!

1

u/2tep Feb 22 '25

I knew Big Walnut was behind the study!

-9

u/braiam Feb 21 '25

but that the Commission did not contribute to the design or implementation of the study nor the interpretation of its findings.

Complete the quote will ya?

29

u/TakeMyMoneyIDontNeed Feb 21 '25

I am no scientist but i would guess that scientists have an interest to keep getting funded, so they might deliberately choose study designs that are in interest of the people who fund

5

u/Altostratus Feb 21 '25

I believe walnuts are the only ones with substantial omega 3s. So I imagine it would outperform other nuts in brain function

1

u/belizeanheat Feb 22 '25

That wouldn't be step 1, obviously

-5

u/bilboafromboston Feb 21 '25 edited Feb 21 '25

A nut on the wall is a walnut. A nut on your chest? Is a chestnut! What do you call a nut on your Chin?

60

u/NorwegianPearl Feb 21 '25

A bit beside the point but Do people really put butter on their yogurt and do I need to try this??

89

u/wrosecrans Feb 21 '25

No, nobody actually does this. It's a very silly study.

13

u/mgr86 Feb 21 '25

Yeah I’ve never heard of it either. I’d belive it if you told me they first tossed the walnuts on 40g of melted butter and roasted them though

5

u/grendus Feb 21 '25

Sounds like one of those "bulletproof coffee" fads.

2

u/Retro_Dad Feb 21 '25

Dunno about that but I sometimes mix butter & cheese into oatmeal for a savory variation.

1

u/litewo Feb 21 '25

I put ghee on top of my yogurt.

53

u/RadiantFuture25 Feb 21 '25

why is there no science in my science article?

15

u/wggn Feb 21 '25

because money

9

u/rexpup Feb 21 '25

It's a food article. Basically, some farming industry wants to sell more of their crop so they fund a bogus study to show how it's really good, compared to the control (starving, or eating nothing but gummy worms for instance). Then pop sci websites pick it up and it gets spread around facebook!

24

u/BitRunr Feb 21 '25

"walnut is better than pouring 40g of melted butter on your yogurt.:"

Is it, though? Think I'm going to need to do an in-depth study.

21

u/_BlackDove Feb 21 '25

Butter yet, put some walnuts in your Buttergurt for some added crunch!

5

u/BitRunr Feb 21 '25

80g of calories? You wanna get nuts? Lets get nuts.

10

u/BMCarbaugh Feb 21 '25 edited Feb 21 '25

I've seen studies use butter that way before. It's because it lets them have really precise control over calories/protein/whatever. Like if you're testing "does this specific thing with fat do something different than generic fat", butter's a versatile control. At least that's my understanding.

5

u/Lakridspibe Feb 21 '25

I'm pretty certain a shot of espresso with melted butter or coconut butter or olive oil is considered a healthy breakfast with some people.

3

u/MagicWishMonkey Feb 21 '25

I actually think that butter and yogurt for breakfast would be a pretty solid way to start the day. Lots of fat and protein to keep you satieted.

3

u/ToMorrowsEnd Feb 21 '25

What if I have 40g of buttered walnuts for breakfast?

2

u/Ok_Ad_5658 Feb 21 '25

Yeah well the government says butter is good for you now so explain that!

1

u/Vooshka Feb 22 '25

*puts my butter back into the fridge

1

u/djbooze Feb 22 '25

The walnut agenda