The Effect of Pistachio-Rich Breakfast Meals on Cognitive Function in Healthy Older Adults

NCT06900452 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 2024-236-CW
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 52
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study aims to investigate the effect of a breakfast meal containing varying serving sizes (doses) of pistachio nuts on cognitive function throughout the course of the day in healthy ageing adults aged 65-80.

Conditions

Cognition

Keywords

Cognition; Pistachios; Vascular; Neural; Inflammation; Mood

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Delayed recall (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Task)

  The RAVLT is a verbal learning task that presents participants with 15 words (list A) 5 times, giving participants one minute after each presentation to recall as many words as they can from the list. After 5 presentations, a new list (list B) is presented and recalled, and finally participants are asked (without hearing list A again) to recall as many words as they can from list A. After a 30 minute period, participants are asked to think back to the task and recall as many words as possible from list A only, providing a measure of delayed recall.

  Baseline

• Delayed recall (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Task)

  The RAVLT is a verbal learning task that presents participants with 15 words (list A) 5 times, giving participants one minute after each presentation to recall as many words as they can from the list. After 5 presentations, a new list (list B) is presented and recalled, and finally participants are asked (without hearing list A again) to recall as many words as they can from list A. After a 30 minute period, participants are asked to think back to the task and recall as many words as possible from list A only, providing a measure of delayed recall.

  2 hours

• Delayed recall (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Task)

  The RAVLT is a verbal learning task that presents participants with 15 words (list A) 5 times, giving participants one minute after each presentation to recall as many words as they can from the list. After 5 presentations, a new list (list B) is presented and recalled, and finally participants are asked (without hearing list A again) to recall as many words as they can from list A. After a 30 minute period, participants are asked to think back to the task and recall as many words as possible from list A only, providing a measure of delayed recall.

  4 hours

• Delayed recall (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Task)

  The RAVLT is a verbal learning task that presents participants with 15 words (list A) 5 times, giving participants one minute after each presentation to recall as many words as they can from the list. After 5 presentations, a new list (list B) is presented and recalled, and finally participants are asked (without hearing list A again) to recall as many words as they can from list A. After a 30 minute period, participants are asked to think back to the task and recall as many words as possible from list A only, providing a measure of delayed recall.

  6 hours

Secondary Outcomes (36)

• Rate of learning (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Task)

  Baseline

• Rate of learning (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Task)

  2 hours

• Rate of learning (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Task)

  4 hours

• Rate of learning (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Task)

  6 hours

• Word recognition (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Task)

  Baseline

Study Arms (4)

Placebo

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

Macronutrient-matched placebo breakfast meal

Dietary Supplement: Placebo

0.5 servings of pistachio

EXPERIMENTAL

0.5 servings of pistachio (15g) administered in breakfast meal

Dietary Supplement: 0.5 serving of pistachios

1 serving of pistachio

EXPERIMENTAL

1 serving of pistachio (30g) administered in breakfast meal

Dietary Supplement: 1 serving of pistachios

2 servings of pistachio

EXPERIMENTAL

2 servings of pistachio (60g) administered in breakfast meal

Dietary Supplement: 2 servings of pistachios

Interventions

0.5 serving of pistachios DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

The equivalent of 0.5 servings (15g) of shelled, roasted pistachio nuts, crushed and mixed into a muesli-based breakfast meal for consumption. Ingredients: 15g pistachio, 35g muesli base, 150g full fat natural yoghurt, 15g unsalted butter (melted), 10g unflavoured whey powder

0.5 servings of pistachio

1 serving of pistachios DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

The equivalent of 1 serving (30g) of shelled, roasted pistachio nuts, crushed and mixed into a muesli-based breakfast meal for consumption. Ingredients: 30g pistachio, 35g muesli base, 150g full fat natural yoghurt, 10g unsalted butter (melted), 5g unflavoured whey powder

1 serving of pistachio

2 servings of pistachios DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

The equivalent of 2 servings (60g) of shelled, roasted pistachio nuts, crushed and mixed into a muesli-based breakfast meal for consumption. Ingredients: 60g pistachios, 25g muesli base, 150g low fat natural yoghurt

2 servings of pistachio

Placebo DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Macronutrient-matched placebo breakfast meal. Ingredients: 40g muesli base, 150g full fat natural yoghurt, 25g unsalted butter (melted), 15g unflavoured whey powder

Placebo

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 65 Years - 80 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• years old
• Fruit \& veg intake less than or equal to 4 servings per day
• Not regularly consuming more than 3 servings of fish per week
• Adequate English language and visual \& auditory acuity to perform the cognitive tasks
• Normal BMI for age
• Normal MMSE performance between 26-30

You may not qualify if:

• Being diagnosed with psychological or psychiatric disorders
• ADHD or dyslexia
• Any food allergy or intolerance
• Use of medications and dietary supplements that may impact study results
• Antibiotic use within the last 3 months
• Adherence to vegan or vegetarian diets, or other specific diets that may impact study outcomes
• Being diagnosed with cardiometabolic disease (including type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease), or suffer from untreated hypertension or thrombosis related disorders
• Taking blood thinners

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Reading: lead
• American Pistachio Growers: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Nutrition, Cognition & Health Lab, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading

Reading, Berkshire, RG6 6ES, United Kingdom

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Inflammation

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Claire Williams, PhD

  University of Reading

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Claire Williams, PhD

CONTACT

0118 378 7540; claire.williams@reading.ac.uk

Lynne Bell, PhD

CONTACT

0118 378 8313; l.bell@reading.ac.uk

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: TRIPLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 21, 2025
• First Posted: March 28, 2025
• Study Start: March 6, 2025
• Primary Completion: November 1, 2025
• Study Completion: February 1, 2026
• Last Updated: May 7, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share

Locations

GB (1)