by Nancy B. Emerson Lombardo, Ph.D. © 2013 Nancy B. Emerson Lombardo and Brain Health and Wellness Center®
As for the type of nuts and seeds to eat in your pursuit of the Mediterranean Diet and following Dr. Nancy’s Memory Preservation Nutrition® program, choose your favorites so you will indeed eat them every day. The three used in the study are especially terrific, because walnuts are rich in the plant form of omega-3’s and almonds in vitamin E, and different healthy fats. Hazelnuts are popular in Europe and have complementary nutrients. But ALL nuts, including the lowly peanut, are power houses of potent nutrients that help us in a myriad of ways. For example, among popular nuts eaten in the U.S., cashews have the second highest amount of Omega 3’s (.22 gram/ounce), after walnuts and the less common butternut. Hazelnuts, Brazil nuts and peanuts have smaller but significant amounts of Omega 3’s.
In fact eating a variety of nuts and seeds is the way to go. Other human clinical trials have shown how a various nuts lower cholesterol, help lower blood sugar, and both walnut and almonds in studies with mice improved brain health including reduction of A-beta. And in none of the human clinical trials testing health benefits of nuts did the participants eating extra nuts gain weight compared to control groups. So despite the high fat and calorie content, the nuts maybe replacing less healthy foods, or their super-healthy ingredients help prevent weight gain.
For more information on nuts see our web-page table listing some nutrients in various nuts.
Among seeds, flax seeds, which must be ground to be 
bio-available, have good amounts of Omega-3’s as do chia seeds and 
hemp seeds (the same type of hemp from which rope, fabric and paper can be made, a distant cousin* of the marijuana plant). Many other seeds also have brain and body health benefits including pumpkin seeds, squash seeds, pepitas, sesame seeds (used to make Tahini, an ingredient in hummus), and many others.
(* very distant. Don’t worry you can’t get high on hemp seeds and they are legally imported shelled, usually from Canada)
