{"doi":"10.1093/ageing/afaf208","title":"Nut consumption, gut microbiota, and cognitive function: findings from a prospective study in older adults at risk of cognitive decline","abstract":"BACKGROUND: The diet-microbiota-gut-brain axis emerges as a promising target for preventing neurodegenerative disorders. Nuts are nutrient-dense foods with potential neuroprotective and prebiotic properties, yet their relationship with longitudinal cognitive changes and gut microbiota remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: To assess the association of baseline nut consumption with 6-year changes in cognitive function and baseline gut microbiota composition in older adults. METHODS: This prospective study included 747 participants (mean age 65 ± 5 years, 48% women) with overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome. Baseline nut consumption, assessed via a validated food frequency questionnaire, was categorised as ≤1, 1-3, 3-7, and > 7 servings/week. Cognitive function was evaluated at baseline and at 2, 4, and 6 years, using a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests. Gut microbiota composition was profiled through 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Multivariable linear mixed-effects and linear regression models were utilized. RESULTS: Participants consuming 3-7 servings of nuts/week showed significantly slower declines in global cognitive function over the follow-up period compared to those consuming ≤1 serving/week (4-year: β[95%CI] = 0.170[0.022,0.319], P = .024; 6-year: 0.176[0.020,0.331], P = .027). This nut consumption category was also associated with higher gut microbial diversity (Shannon index: β[95%CI] = 0.211[0.008,0.414], P = .042). Thirteen taxa were associated with nut consumption, 10 positively, including Lachnospiraceae UCG-004, which was further associated with positive changes in global cognitive function (2-year: β[95%CI] = 0.020[0.004,0.036], q = 0.050) and slower decline in attention (6-year: 0.042[0.020,0.064], q = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Moderate nut consumption (3-7 servings/week), was interconnectedly associated with cognitive preservation and favourable gut microbiota composition, underscoring the potential of dietary modulation of the gut-brain axis for healthy ageing.","journal":"Age and Ageing","year":2025,"id":521759,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":5,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9528,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2025-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":938097,"name":"Stephanie Nishi","orcid":"0000-0002-7878-5368","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":479595,"name":"Nancy Babió","orcid":"0000-0003-3527-5277","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":854899,"name":"Clara Belzer","orcid":"0000-0001-6922-836X","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1393173,"name":"Prokopis Konstati","orcid":null,"position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":39598,"name":"Jesús Vioqué","orcid":"0000-0002-2284-148X","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":83478,"name":"Dolores Corella","orcid":"0000-0002-2366-4104","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":267381,"name":"Olga Castañer","orcid":"0000-0003-3169-997X","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":251524,"name":"Josép Vidal","orcid":"0000-0002-4564-4518","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":854896,"name":"Isabel Moreno‐Indias","orcid":"0000-0002-6121-151X","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1212403,"name":"Laura Torres‐Collado","orcid":"0000-0003-2842-1344","position":10,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1392666,"name":"Patricia Guillem‐Sáiz","orcid":"0000-0003-4422-5538","position":11,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":267386,"name":"Montserrat Fitó","orcid":"0000-0002-1817-483X","position":12,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1212925,"name":"Miguel Ruiz-Canela","orcid":null,"position":13,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1212405,"name":"Adrián Hernández-Cacho","orcid":"0000-0002-5250-1048","position":14,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":854895,"name":"Francisco J. Tinahones","orcid":"0000-0001-6871-4403","position":15,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":230964,"name":"Jordi Salas‐Salvadó","orcid":"0000-0003-2700-7459","position":16,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1365237,"name":"Jiaqi Ni","orcid":"0000-0001-5625-0373","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":51,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:49:49.198144Z","pmid":"40736692","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}