A study has found that this unexpected snack can help relieve stress

This is a surprise.

Many of us spend far too much time being stressed, whether it's at work, at home or in college. Things like deep breathing and regular exercise is said to reduce the effects of stress, but a new study has found that diet can influence stress levels too, and more specifically adding some things to your diet can reduce it. A new study, published in the Nutrients journal, has found that walnuts may be the key to reducing stress.

"In the past, studies on walnuts have shown beneficial effects on many health outcomes like heart disease, diabetes and obesity," "Our study was different because we focused on cognition, and in this controlled randomized trial (CRT) we measured mood outcomes in males and females." Nutrition Professor Peter Pribis said.

Sixty-four students between the ages of 18-25 participated in the study and they represented most ethnic groups: Caucasian, African American, Hispanic and Asian. The students were asked to eat three slices of banana bread every day sixteen weeks. They were asked to eat banana bread with walnuts for 8 weeks and without walnuts for another 8 weeks. The half a cup of walnuts was ground up into the dough so that the so breads tasted and looked the same.  The students' mood was measured at the end of each eight-week period. Strangely however, men saw an improvement in this particular study, while women did not.

"There was a meaningful, 28 percent improvement of mood in young men," said Pribis. "However we did not observe any improvement of mood in females. Why this is we do not know.''

Still, it's no harm snacking on them to see if your own mood changes and you feel less stressed, or at least offer them to the men in your life whom we know it works on.

 "Eat more walnuts. This is an easy intervention. They're not only good for your mood, but overall health as well. The recommended amount is one handful per day." Pribis said.