Adults felt they slept better on almonds, but the sleep lab didn’t concur
STUDY: Desai SR et al, Frontiers in Nutrition 2026
STUDY TYPE: Randomized, open-label, controlled trial
FUNDING: Almond Board of California
Background
Almonds contain melatonin, magnesium, and tryptophan, nutrients with plausible sleep-supporting effects. Almonds and walnuts improved sleep, stress, and depression in earlier small, randomized trials, and this study builds on that with a larger sample.
The Study
- 175 adults, ages 21 to 55, with poor sleep quality by questionnaire.
- Randomized to 60 g of raw almonds daily (about 50 almonds) or an similar calorie snack for 5 months.
- Home polysomnography and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) at baseline and endline; only assessors were blinded.
Results
Subjective sleep improved more with almonds: sleep efficiency rose 9.7 points versus 5.4 with controls (p=.021), and endline PSQI score was lower (3.94 vs 4.79, p=.013), with shorter sleep latency (18 vs 26 minutes, p=.016).
Objective sleep did not change. Nearly all polysomnography measures showed no group difference, though wake time during sleep trended lower with almonds (p=.081).
Melatonin was higher with almonds (250.63 vs 206.19 pg/mL, p=.050), but no other biochemical marker differed. A meaningful PSQI improvement occurred in 62.5% of the almond group versus 54% of controls.
Limitations
Industry funded. lack of blinding may have shifted subjective report. As for objective measures, a single overnight sleep study per visit can miss night-to-night variability, diet outside the study snack wasn’t tightly controlled, and severe apnea or major psychiatric disorders were excluded.
Practice Implications
- The more nuts people eat, the longer they live (in three large epidemiologic studies).
- Nuts have mild mental health benefits, and are key part of the antidepressant diet.
—Chris Aiken, MD
Director, Psych Partners
Editor in Chief, Carlat Psychiatry Report
