A handful of nuts each day could lower a person's risk of developing dementia, according to a new study.

Daily consumption of the snack was said to play a "protective role" against the condition for multiple reasons - including lowering cholesterol and reducing inflammation. The researchers, from the University of Castilla-La Mancha and University of Porto, analysed data from more than 50,000 participants in the UK Biobank between 2007 and 2012 as the baseline, with a follow-up between 2013 and 2023.

Writing in the journal GeroScience, they said: "The daily consumption of nuts may play a protective role in the prevention of dementia. UK adults who consumed nuts daily had a reduced risk of all-cause dementia compared with non-consumers after seven years of follow-up, regardless of adjustment for lifestyle, hearing problems, self-related health, and the number of chronic diseases."

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They added: "Analyses revealed that nut consumption of up to one handful of 30 g per day of unsalted nuts were associated with the greatest protective benefits."

The findings echo those of the 2021 Singapore Chinese Health Study, which concluded that eating nuts offered protection against cognitive impairment, an early dementia warning sign.

Dementia is an umbrella term for a range of conditions affecting the brain that gradually worsen - the most common of these being Alzheimer's. There are almost a million people currently living with dementia in the UK.

According to Alzheimer's Research UK, one in two of us will be affected by dementia in our lifetime, either by caring for someone with the condition, developing it, or both. The condition is more common in people over 65 but can affect people of any age, with common symptoms including confusion and memory loss.