MRIs show how peanut consumption improves the brain's vascular function
New MRI findings suggest that routinely consuming unsalted, skin-roasted peanuts could improve the vascular health of the brain.
Published in Clinical Nutrition, the research highlights how consistently incorporating these specific peanuts into a person’s diet enhances cerebral blood flow (CBF) to multiple brain regions. Experts contend the changes they observed on imaging correlated with improvements in patients’ memory and cognitive function as well.
“CBF 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,” author Peter Joris, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences (NUTRIM) at Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands, said in a release. “We found that longer-term consumption of unsalted, skin-roasted peanuts improved global CBF, which suggests an overall enhancement in brain vascular function.”
For the study, the group recruited 31 health participants ages 60 to 75 to undergo imaging after altering their diet to incorporate peanuts; they were instructed to consume 60 grams (approximately two servings) of peanuts daily for 16 weeks. Afterwards, participants underwent arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging to quantify global CBF. The group also completed cognitive assessments, and all findings were compared to that of a control group.
On imaging, researchers noted an increase in global and gray matter CBF by 3.6% and 4.5% in the peanut group; this was most notable in the frontal and temporal lobes. These findings correlated with a nearly 6% improvement in verbal memory. As an added bonus, the peanut group also showed significant reductions in blood pressure.
“For the first time, we demonstrated that peanut intake improved brain vascular function in healthy older adults,” Joris noted. “These favorable effects may help explain the observed improvements in memory, providing novel mechanistic insight into how regular peanut consumption can beneficially affect cognitive function.”
The group emphasized the role of advanced imaging techniques in allowing them to visualize the effects of dietary changes. These findings could be valuable for future research into how diet can improve cognitive function.
The NUTRIM study was supported by funding from The Peanut Institute Foundation. However, the foundation was not involved in the study's design, implementation, analysis or interpretation of data.
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In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She began covering the medical imaging industry for Innovate Healthcare in 2021.