Walnuts are suitable for everyday intake and provide a number of health advantages. Unless you have a food sensitivity, intolerance, or allergy, eating walnuts regularly poses little to no risk. If that is not the case, including walnuts in your diet can be quite advantageous, especially if you opt to substitute them for other, less nutrient-dense foods.
How many walnuts a day should you eat?
You may reap the various advantages of walnuts by regularly eating a handful of them. They can also be soaked with other nuts, such as almonds, over night. The next morning, break your fast with these nutritious nuts. The following are some health advantages of frequent walnut consumption:
Supports heart health
The American Heart Association has granted walnuts its Heart-Check Certification, certifying that they satisfy its standards for “heart-healthy food.” They have at least 10% of the Daily Value for vitamins A and C, iron, calcium, protein, or dietary fibre. They are low in sodium, saturated fat, and trans fat. Ready to stock up on walnuts now?
Walnuts can have a favourable effect on your lipid profile since they are heart-healthy, which means that they frequently lower “bad cholesterol” like LDL cholesterol in your body. According to a study from 2021 that was published in Circulation, older persons who had two servings of walnuts per day for two years saw a reduction in their LDL cholesterol levels.
Helps improve memory and cognitive Health
A 2020 study in Nutrients indicated that walnut consumption has a positive impact on memory and brain function in both animal and human studies. Consuming walnuts regularly may help to lower inflammation and fend off free radicals, which damage cells and can eventually cause dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
May reduce stress
Want to be more serene? Consume walnuts. According to a 2022 study in Nutrients, eating roughly two servings of walnuts per day for 16 weeks reduced self-reported stress and depressive symptoms. Additionally, walnut eating in this study helped the patients sleep for longer periods of time and improved their general mental health. Due to their abundance in neuro-supportive substances including melatonin, folate, vitamin E, and polyphenols, walnuts are good for your mental health.
Walnuts may function as a prebiotic, which can enhance the health of your gut, according to a 2023 review that was published in the journal Antioxidants. They accomplish this by acting as a source of “food” for the advantageous microorganisms in your digestive tract.