Good news for peanut butter fans: Spanish scientists found children whose mothers ate three 30g servings of nuts a week in the first trimester of their pregnancy scored better on cognitive function, attention capacity and memory tests.
The research of 2,200 mother-child pairs was carried out by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and found that pregnant women who munch on walnuts, almonds or pine nuts are more likely to have child who excels in all cognitive areas.
Florence Gignac, a predoctoral fellow in perinatal and pediatric epidemiology who led the study said “The nuts we took into account in this study were walnuts, almonds, peanuts, pine nuts and hazelnuts.”
“We think the beneficial effects observed might be due to the fact the nuts provided high levels of folic acid and, in particular, essential fatty acids like omega-3 and omega-6.”
Eating them early on is key: No similar effect was found for children of final trimester nut consumption.
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