Almonds increase memory power has been said for many centuries now and we hear it almost every time by our elders when our examinations are going on. Many times people ask this question on google “How many almonds to eat to get brainy?”. I noticed it whenever I typed almond on the search bar.
And immediately, I was curious to know whether this thing was a myth or a fact. After some research, I found the answer. And to be honest, the answer wasn’t surprising to me. Now let’s discuss what I found out!!
Do almonds really increase our memory?
To answer this question, I will keep referring to this study published in Brain Research Bulletin in 2016.
In this study, rats in the test group were orally administrated with almond suspension (400 mg/kg/day) for four weeks. Then, two groups of rats were made. In one group, the rats were injected with scopolamine( a drug that causes memory loss) just before their memory tests. Results of this study suggest that almond administration for 28 days significantly improved memory retention. This memory-enhancing effect of almonds was also observed in the scopolamine group of rats.
Hence, I think we can conclude from this study that YES, almonds do increase memory power.
BUT WAIT!!
Don’t skip this post now thinking that you’re going to eat lots of almonds and become the next Einstein or Sheldon Cooper!! They didn’t become geniuses by eating almonds. If it was true, then every other respectful kid who eats almonds every day after his/her parents tell him/her to would have been the next Olympiad medalist.
I think that now most of you would be wondering – “What is this guy saying, at one point he says something, and at another, something else. I am confused!! “
Well, let’s end that confusion right now. You see, intelligence and memory are two very different and relative things. I think these first two lines, from this article published in NCBI, perfectly sum up the difference between intelligence and memory.
“Intelligence can be defined as a general mental ability for reasoning, problem solving, and learning. Because of its general nature, intelligence integrates cognitive functions such as perception, attention, memory, language, or planning.”
So as you can see, memory is only a “part” of intelligence. Therefore, only increasing memory won’t increase your intelligence on its own.
Still can’t stop thinking about almonds? Visit my post on its surprising impact on our weight!!!
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Thanks