- Make It Yourself Lavender Heart-Shaped Bath Bombs!
- 20 Things You Never Knew About “Down There”
- 12 Best Foods For Those Suffering From Arthritis Pain
- 12 Personal Hygiene Mistakes Almost Everyone Makes (Mom Never Told You About #4!)
- 15 Medicinal Plants And Herbs From The Cherokee People
- 12 Mind-Blowing Benefits Of Drinking Coconut Water During Pregnancy
- 12 Outstanding Winter Foods That Won’t Fatten You Up Like A Christmas Turkey
Only Seven Of These Each Day Gets You 10 Fantastic Health Benefits!
Photo credit: bigstock.com
What food is full of fiber, rich in unique antioxidants, and full of healthy unsaturated fatty acids? Walnuts! These small nuts are treasure chests simply brimming over with goodness, yet few people take advantage of them. The average person in both the U.S. and in Europe consumes only about 12 grams of nuts each day, and these are usually peanuts, which are technically legumes.
Why should you eat walnuts each day? One professor at the University of Scranton looked at all types of raw and roasted nuts. He concluded that not only should we be eating more nuts, but that there was one nut in particular that was head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to health benefits.
That nut was the walnut, of course.
Published in the online in the journal Food and Function, this study showed that walnuts have a higher antioxidant potency and antioxidant polyphenols than any other nut.
Why is it that people eat so few nuts, especially when information about how nutritionally dense they are is available everywhere? Perhaps because when it comes to nuts, people know or hear that they are a bit high in fat and calories, so they stop right there and simply dismiss nuts as not being right for their diets.
This is a mistake, however. The best thing about walnuts is that you don’t need to eat half a pound to get benefits, you only need seven. That’s right, seven little walnuts each day will get you more nutrition than you can imagine, not to mention antioxidants you can’t find in any other food.
Just a quarter cup of walnuts (about seven nuts) will give you as much as the daily recommended amount of plant based omega-3 fatty acids. These nuts are very high in biotin, copper, molybdenum, and manganese. Keep reading and find out what you can get when you indulge in just seven little walnuts a day.
Continue to Page 2
Photo credit: bigstock.com
1. Heart Health
Walnuts are rich in an important amino acid L-arginine, which has huge benefits for our cardiovascular health, especially for those who are at higher risk for heart disease. They also contain ALA, an anti-inflammatory alpha linolenic acid which can prevent the formation of blood clots. Studies have shown that people who eat sufficient amounts of ALA-containing food are less likely to have a fatal heart attack. Another study revealed that just an ounce of walnuts in your diet each day can decrease overall cardiovascular risk of death.
2. Hormone Help
Walnuts are one of the best foods around when it comes to balancing your hormones. For best results, be sure to eat walnuts raw — not roasted, salted, or covered in honey or sugar.
3. Fight Wrinkles
Walnuts are terrific for fighting the most obvious signs of aging: wrinkles. These tasty nuts are loaded with potent antioxidants that kill the free radicals causing most of the signs of aging on our skin. For suppler, smoother, wrinkle-free skin, simply grab a handful of walnuts and munch away! How easy is that?! Find out more foods that fight wrinkles.
4. Weight Control
You might think that since walnuts contain fat, they are a big no-no for those who work to control their weight. But the opposite is actually true! A review of more than 30 trials showed that those who included nuts in their diets lost over a pound and more and half an inch from their waists than those who did not eat nuts. Walnuts in particular were associated with increased feelings of satiety after only three days.
Continue to Page 3
Photo credit: bigstock.com
5. Improve Your Mood
Maybe it’s the taste, maybe it’s the feeling that you are eating something so high in fat but knowing that it is only doing you good; but the truth is that eating walnuts will put you in a good mood! Walnuts are one of the best plant-based sources of omega-3, which has been shown to lessen the symptoms of depression.
6. Brain Food
These nuts contain folate, melatonin, vitamin E, powerful antioxidants, and omega-3 fatty acids. Research studies have shown that eating walnuts improves inferential reasoning in young adults and supports a healthy brain. One study discovered that eating foods that are high in antioxidants, such as walnuts, increase health span and improve cognitive and motor function throughout the aging process.
SEE ALSO: 12 Reasons You Should be Eating a Lot More Walnuts
7. Improved Reproductive Health
Positive influence on male fertility is another benefit of walnuts. One study showed that men who ate a typical Westernized diet and added 75 grams (which would be slightly more than half a cup) of walnuts each day had significant improvements in sperm quality, including mobility, morphology, and vitality. If you and your mate are trying to have a child, you might want to think about walnuts, walnuts, and more walnuts!
Continue to Page 4
Photo credit: bigstock.com
8. Unique and Potent Antioxidant Power
There is no question that antioxidants are crucial to good health. Antioxidants will control how fast you age by fighting free radicals, the little devils that are behind almost all age-related deterioration of the mind and body.
Walnuts have several rare and powerful antioxidants that are found in very few foods including the tannin tellimagrandin, the flavonol morin, and the quinone juglone. These antioxidants are super powerful and can prevent chemically induced liver damage, reduce inflammation, and improve the lipid profile.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Your Favorite Nuts!
9. Help for Diabetics
The fats in walnuts improve metabolic processes in those who suffer from Type 2 diabetes. Some studies have shown that adults with diabetes who consumed a quarter cup of walnuts each day for three months had a significant reduction in fasting insulin levels when compared to the control group.
10. Potent Cancer Fighter
You might not think of walnuts as being an anti-cancer food, but they really are! Walnuts can help reduce the risk of both prostate cancer and breast cancer. One study showed mice that were given the human equivalent of 2.4 ounces of walnuts over the 18 week study period had their prostate tumors grow slower when those in the control group. In general, such a diet lessened the prostate cancer growth by as much as 40 percent. Another study, also with mice, showed that eating the human equivalent of only two handfuls of walnuts each day cut the risk of breast cancer by a full 50 percent as well as slowed tumor growth by 50 percent.
If you like to buy whole, unshelled walnuts, choose nuts that feel heavy for their size, and be certain that shells are not stained or cracked. This could allow mold to develop inside the shell.
Most people buy shelled walnuts in bulk or in prepackaged containers. Avoid walnuts that look dry or wrinkled, as this indicates that they might be very old. If possible, give your walnuts a good whiff as well since you can usually smell if the walnuts have gone rancid. Since walnuts are high in fat, they can go rancid fairly quickly. Store your shelled walnuts in an airtight container in the freezer, where they will last for one year, or in the refrigerator, where they will keep for about six months.
Walnuts should be considered the King of Nuts and it only takes seven of them to reap all the benefits they have to offer. Enjoy them every day!
References:
