Walnuts Could Help Students with Stress, Says Study University isn't all sleeping, parties, and video games — many students find it a stressful time, with exams and the beginning of adult life. But a recent study has suggested that there's a food that could help with some of that stress — walnuts. Walnuts are known to be a healthy snack. They contain healthy fats and proteins, which are good for the body and the mind. They may not be the most exciting food for young adults to snack on in a world of pizza and burgers, but they could have a positive effect both on academic stress and on the health of the body. That's according to researchers from the University of South Australia, who had 80 students take part in their study. One group of students was asked to eat about half a cup of walnuts every day for 16 weeks. They could eat them as a snack or add them to meals at any time of the day. The other participants were told not to eat nuts for those 16 weeks. The researchers found that academic stress was having a negative effect on student's mental health, on the amount of protein in their bodies, and — in female participants — on the diversity of bacteria in their guts. But these things all improved among those who had been eating walnuts. Larisa Bobrovskaya, one of the study's authors, said not only are walnuts good for students, they're an easy thing to add to lots of different meals. However, she also said just having something extra to eat might have made the students feel better, so more research is needed.