Health Benefits of Walnuts

You can add extra flavor and nutrition to your meal by adding walnuts to your diet. Walnuts are available all the year round and are a great source of omega-3 fatty acids.

This healthy nut provides us with a protective fat namely omega-3 essential fatty acids which cannot be produced by the body. Walnuts’ concentration of omega-3s provides a lot of health benefits namely better cognitive function, cardiovascular protection, benefits in rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, and in treating inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis and eczema. The ellagic acid contained in walnuts helps to strengthen the immune system as it has great anticancer properties.

You can greatly improve your cardiovascular health by adding walnuts in your diet. This is because of the fact that walnuts are rich in monounsaturated fats which is healthy for the body. Research has proved that daily intake of walnuts can bring about favorable effects on cardiovascular risk factors and high cholesterol levels.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has also reiterated that eating 1.5 ounces per day of walnuts along with a diet low in cholesterol and saturated fat and cholesterol can reduce the risk of heart disease. Hence we can know about the beneficial effects of walnuts on vascular health.

Another study has revealed that persons who ate diets rich in omega-3 fatty polyunsaturated fatty acids such as walnuts had lowered blood pressure than those who did not consume such a diet. Walnuts are also a great source of “brain food” because of the high concentration of omega-3 fats. The brain is composed of over 60% structural fat. The structural fat can be provided by products such as cold water fish, walnuts and flaxseed which can help the brain to function optimally. Epidemiological studies conducted in several countries have also pointed out the positive connection between the use of walnuts and reduced rates of depression among the population.