Top 5 Health Benefits of Walnut
Nutrients including omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants abound in walnuts, making them a nutritious snack. Incorporating them into your diet is also a breeze. Walnuts may help your health in several ways, including providing healthy fats, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. The English walnut, scientifically known as Juglans regia, is the most studied and widely distributed walnut species.
Reduce Blood Pressure: One of the leading causes of cardiovascular disease and stroke is hypertension. Eating walnuts may help reduce blood pressure, even in persons with high blood pressure, according to a small 2019 study. A 2019 research review also looked at the impacts of the Mediterranean diet, which includes nuts like walnuts. They came to the conclusion that some people may find relief from high blood pressure by adhering to the Mediterranean diet. It appears that incorporating nuts into a heart-healthy diet may enhance the advantages on blood pressure to a little degree. The risk of cardiovascular disease is believed to be significantly affected by even little variations in blood pressure.
Support good brain function: The walnut's resemblance to a miniature brain may just be a coincidence, but studies indicate that walnuts may be beneficial to mental health. Walnuts have a stellar reputation as a brain food. The brain needs omega-3 fatty acids, which are abundant in these foods, to work and grow. Walnuts have many health benefits, including lowering the risk of Alzheimer's disease and improving memory and cognitive function, according to studies. Eating walnuts has been associated in studies with enhanced brain function, including enhanced motor development, learning abilities, memory, and behavior related to anxiety.
Lower the risk for type 2 diabetes: Walnuts may aid blood sugar regulation in ways unrelated to weight control. One hundred individuals with type 2 diabetes who were already taking their regular diabetes medication and following a healthy diet were given 1 tablespoon of cold-pressed walnut oil daily for three months as part of a small trial that took place in 2016. The outcome was a reduction of 8% in fasting blood sugar. In addition, the hemoglobin A1C (3-month average blood sugar) levels of those who used walnut oil dropped by almost 8%. Adding walnuts to your diet may help lower blood sugar levels slightly, according to several previous studies.
Help Gut and Heart Health: Walnuts may be good for your heart, according to the research. In 2014, the Journal of Nutrition reported that walnuts help lower risk factors for cardiovascular disease in multiple ways. Walnuts can lower blood pressure and low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or "bad") cholesterol, two of these important risk factors. According to the article, walnuts have additional positive effects on heart health, such as enhancing endothelial function (the lining of your heart and blood vessels) and reducing inflammatory markers and oxidative stress (the result of free radicals outnumbering antioxidants).
Cancer Protection: Researchers discovered that walnuts changed the expression of more than 450 tumor genes in a manner that could slow the progression of cancer and increase the likelihood of survival. Eating walnuts on a regular basis can have anticancer benefits, and walnuts contain many additional chemicals that may have anti-tumor properties, as shown in a 2018 study published in Toxins. Bio-active chemicals found in black walnuts may have an anti-cancer impact as well. In 2020, researchers found that black walnuts may have anticancer effects; their results were published in the journal Molecules.