**8. Conclusions**

Given that population aging has become a global trend, it is necessary to carefully evaluate age-associated diseases and identify strategies for promoting healthy lifestyle leading to healthy aging. Main goals should be the preservation of physical and cognitive functions, the maintenance of high standards of life quality and independence. Clearly, there is a need to design personalized recommendations to prevent, manage, or treat pathological conditions prevalent in the elderly.

As demonstrated in the present review, nuts, via their numerous biological active compounds (proteins, MUFAs and PUFAs, vitamins, minerals, fiber, polyphenols, phytosterols), have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and might ensure cardioprotective benefits, safeguard against metabolic conditions, lower carcinogenic risk, help in cognitive disorders, or aid in sarcopenia and frailty. Just one bioactive compound cannot explain all these health benefits. It seems that antioxidant phytochemicals act synergistically to decrease the age-related oxidative stress and inflammation. Nuts, as complete functional foods, may positively adjust aging processes and play key roles in the relationship between lifespan and health span. Recent data favor the inclusion of robust antioxidant nuts in healthy diets of middle-aged and elderly population, a category steadily growing worldwide.

The scientific findings of our review stress the beneficial effects tree nut and peanut consumption can have in lowering risk factors related to several age-related diseases and highlight the importance of including nuts in healthy dietary plans. Moreover, the study has the potential to advance the perception of nuts as strong antioxidants between nutritionists, nurses, physicians, or general public and could be helpful in public health and health policy decisions.

**Author Contributions:** M.E.R., D.-S.P. wrote the first draft of the manuscript, which was further edited by all authors. M.E.R., A.M., I.C.F.R.F., D.-S.P. read, critically revised, and approved the final submitted version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded in part by "Iuliu Hatieganu" University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Cluj-Napoca, Romania through a Ph.D. grant (PCD No. 1529/60/18.01.2019 to M.E.R.).

**Acknowledgments:** We would like to thank George Rusu (Southern Connecticut University, New Haven, CT, USA) for the language review.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
