Tag Archive for: almonds

Protect Your Brain—Eat More Magnesium

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In the last Memo, we were left with the researchers’ question: if magnesium intake and BP were not related to a neuroprotective effect, what was? The researchers had some idea based on prior research: inflammation. Let’s take a look at what they found on the follow-up to their original study.

The methodology and subject pool of the study was essentially the same as the other study with the addition of several measures of inflammation, including hs-CRP. Researchers found that as magnesium intake increased, inflammation decreased. Subjects with higher levels of magnesium intake had increased brain volumes including grey matter and white matter, but not white matter lesions. This was an observational study, so cause and effect cannot be determined, but with close to 6,000 subjects, I think we can safely say there’s a definite relationship between magnesium intake and a neuroprotective effect.

How Much Do I Need?

The average intake of magnesium was 360 mg for men and 340 mg for women. A reader recently sent me a post in which a physician recommended that everyone should take 500 mg of magnesium every day. I’m not going to go that far because there’s still too much we don’t know. The biggest issue is we don’t know where the subjects got their magnesium; this study was done in the United Kingdom and they tend to eat more plant-based foods than Americans.

I’ve written to the lead author of the study to see if they plan to publish another study breaking down the contribution from foods and from supplements—I’ll let you know what he says. For now, I’m going to recommend that we increase our consumption of the top five sources of magnesium from foods. Those are:

         1 ounce pumpkin seeds
         3 ounces spinach
         1 ounce almonds
         3 ounces avocado
         1 ounce dark chocolate

If you’re interested in more information on magnesium and its benefits, become an Insider and you can listen to a replay of the last Insider conference call. Remember: Eat less. Eat better. Move more.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: European Journal of Nutrition (2024) 63:1807–1818

Almonds to the Rescue!

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Delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is common in sedentary people who overdo it—the weekend warriors who catch up on all the yard work in one day or people who have to shovel out a long driveway after a big snow. Researchers wanted to test what benefits these occasional exercisers may get from eating almonds compared to a cereal bar.

Researchers recruited a group of sedentary volunteers between the ages of 30 and 65. They wanted to examine the effect of eating two ounces of almonds every day for four weeks on measures of pro-inflammatory hormones and oxylipins, which are oxidized fats that can have pro- or anti-inflammatory effects. The control group ate a cereal bar with the same caloric content.

After 28 days, all subjects performed a 90-minute workout session designed to damage muscle that included a bout of maximal aerobic exercise, weight training, jumping, and other activities. Did they damage their muscles? Absolutely, based on the blood levels of enzymes indicating DOMS as well as standardized questionnaires assessing pain after exercise. The subjects who ate almonds every day had more anti-inflammatory oxylipins after exercise while the controls had an increase in pro-inflammatory oxylipins. Most important, the almond eaters appeared to recover a little faster.

Almond skins are a treasure of phenolic compounds. While this was a small study (69 total subjects), there were benefits to eating almonds every day for non-exercising weekend warriors. Could other high-phenolic foods have the same benefit? Time will tell. Almonds are also a treasure trove of omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, and protein, so substituting almonds for some other snack may prove beneficial. How about you regular exercisers? I’m betting you’ll get some benefit as well. It’s all part of eating better.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: Front. Nutr. 9:1042719. doi:10.3389/fnut.2022.1042719