By Dr. Mercola
Oftentimes, the simplest foods are
best for your health, and this is certainly the case for nuts, in which God has
crafted a nearly perfect package of protein, healthy fats, fiber, plant
sterols, antioxidants, and many vitamins and minerals.
Among nuts, the case may be made
that walnuts are king, as research shows they may boost your health in a number
of ways at very easy-to-achieve "doses."
Eating just one ounce of walnuts a
day (that's about seven shelled walnuts) may be all it takes to take advantage
of their beneficial properties.
7
Top Reasons to Eat Walnuts
Walnuts belong to the tree nut
family, along with Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans,
pine nuts, and pistachios. Each has its own unique nutritional profile.
One-quarter cup of walnuts, for
instance, provides more than 100 percent of the daily recommended value of
plant-based omega-3 fats, along with high amounts of copper, manganese,
molybdenum, and biotin. Some of the most exciting research about walnuts
includes:
1. Cancer-Fighting Properties
Walnuts may help reduce not only the
risk of prostate cancer, but breast cancer as well. In one study, mice that ate
the human equivalent of 2.4 ounces of whole walnuts for 18 weeks had
significantly smaller and slower-growing prostate tumors compared to the
control group that consumed the same amount of fat but from other sources.
Overall the whole walnut
diet reduced prostate cancer growth by 30 to 40 percent. According to another
study on mice, the human equivalent of just two handfuls of walnuts a day cut
breast cancer risk in half, and slowed tumor growth by 50 percent as well.
2. Heart Health
Walnuts contain the amino acid l-arginine, which offers multiple vascular benefits to people with
heart disease, or those who have increased risk for heart disease due to
multiple cardiac risk factors.
If you struggle with herpes, you may
want to avoid or limit walnuts, as high levels of arginine can deplete the
amino acid lysine, which can trigger herpes recurrences.
Eating just four walnuts a day has
been shown to significantly raise blood levels of
heart-healthy ALA and walnut consumption supports healthful cholesterol
levels.
Separate research showed that eating
just one ounce of walnuts a day may decrease cardiovascular risk, and among
those at high cardiovascular risk, increased frequency of nut consumption
significantly lowers the risk of death.
3. Rare and Powerful Antioxidants
Antioxidants are crucial to your
health, as they are believed to help control how fast you age by combating free
radicals, which are at the heart of age-related deterioration.
Walnuts contain several unique and
powerful antioxidants that are available in only a few commonly eaten foods.
This includes the quinone juglone, the tannin tellimagrandin, and the flavonol
morin.
Walnuts contain antioxidants that
are so powerful at free-radical scavenging that researchers called them
"remarkable," and research has shown that walnut polyphenols may help
prevent chemically-induced liver damage.
4. Weight Control
Adding healthful amounts of nuts
such as walnuts to your diet can help you to maintain your ideal weight over
time. In one review of 31 trials, those whose diets included extra nuts or nuts
substituted for other foods lost about 1.4 extra pounds and half an inch from
their waists. Eating walnuts is also associated with
increased satiety after just three days.
5. Improved Reproductive Health in
Men
One of the lesser-known benefits of
walnuts is their impact on male fertility. Among men who consume a
Western-style diet, adding 75 grams (a bit over one-half cup) of walnuts daily
significantly improved sperm quality, including vitality, motility, and
morphology.
6. Brain Health
Walnuts contain a number of
neuroprotective compounds, including vitamin E, folate, melatonin,
omega-3
fats, and antioxidants. Research shows walnut consumption may support brain
health, including increasing inferential reasoning in young adults.
One study also found that consuming
high-antioxidant foods like walnuts "can decrease the enhanced
vulnerability to oxidative stress that occurs in aging," "increase
health span," and also "enhance cognitive and motor function in
aging."
7. Diabetes
The beneficial dietary fat in
walnuts has been shown to improve metabolic parameters in people with type 2
diabetes. Overweight adults with type 2 diabetes who ate one-quarter cup of
walnuts daily had significant reductions in fasting insulin levels compared to
those who did not, and the benefit was achieved in the first three months.
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