title: Long-term intake of nuts in relation to cognitive function in older women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Nuts contain nutrients that may benefit brain health; thus, we examined long-term intake of nuts in relation to cognition in older women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Population-based prospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Academic research using data from the Nurses' Health Study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nut intake was assessed in a food-frequency questionnaire beginning in1980, and approximately every four years thereafter. Between 1995-2001, 16,010 women age 70 or older (mean age = 74 years) without a history of stroke were administered 4 repeated telephone-based cognitive interviews over 6 years. Our final sample included 15,467 women who completed an initial cognitive interview and had complete information on nut intake.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS), a global score averaging the results of all tests (TICS, immediate and delayed verbal recall, category fluency, and attention), and a verbal memory score averaging the results of tests of verbal recall.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In multivariable-adjusted linear regression models, higher long-term total nut intake was associated with better average cognitive status for all cognitive outcomes. For the global composite score combining all tests, women consuming at least 5 servings of nuts/week had higher scores than non-consumers (mean difference=0.08 standard units, 95% confidence interval 0.00-0.15; p-trend=0.003). This mean difference of 0.08 is equivalent to the mean difference we find between women 2 years apart in age. Long-term intake of nuts was not associated with rates of cognitive decline.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Higher nut intake may be related to better overall cognition at older ages, and could be an easily-modifiable public health intervention.
authors.affiliation: Jacqueline O'Brien, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Channing Division of Network Medicine, 181 Longwood Avenue, Boston MA 02115, Phone: 617-240-0097, Fax: 617-525-4597, Email: jlo391@mail.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Okereke
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Devore
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rosner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Breteler
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Grodstein
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004032:Diet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004435:Eating; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology; D009726:Nurses; D009754:Nuts; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors