15 Reasons to Add Walnuts to Your Menu

15 Reasons to Add Walnuts to Your Menu

Walnuts are of the best nuts you can eat. And we don’t mean just for its wonderfully nutty flavor. It’s packed with excellent health benefits, plus it tastes fantastic. It fights against many diseases such as heart disease, cognitive diseases, and even cancer.

While it’s true that walnuts have one of the highest fat contents of all nuts (about 65% of it is fat), this is nothing to worry about. The fat in walnut is heart-healthy alpha-linoleic acid (ALA), which is an omega-6 fatty acid. As long as you stay near the recommended daily amount of healthy fat, you’ll be okay eating these nuts. Here are 15 reasons you should add walnuts to your menu.

Walnuts offer more value than just great taste–here’s what they can do for your body. 1. They contain more antioxidants than any other food.

Antioxidant is a term that people throw around quite often. These substances protect your cells from harm by free radicals (another word that people use without fully explaining). You can think of antioxidants as your cells’ bodyguards.

Free radicals are substances that come from harmful chemicals in the air, such as cigarettes’ smoke and other pollution. If free radicals build up in your body, they can do some severe damage, even as serious as death. You need as many antioxidants as you can get.
Save 2. They have lots of folic acid.

Men and women need folic acid, but pregnant women need it the most. Pregnant women who have a folic acid deficiency can have babies with congenital disabilities. Eating them protects the mom’s and baby’s health.

Some studies have also shown that walnuts can increase the baby’s intelligence as it develops in the womb. While more research is needed on this topic, it still doesn’t hurt to give your baby the best chance possible. 3. They can improve your heart health.

Due to the high content of antioxidants and other nutrients, these nuts are a great cardiovascular booster . They can help to lower bad cholesterol, reduce inflammation, and improve blood circulation. In fact, the more you eat, the better.

It may seem contradictory that eating something with such a high-fat content is right for your heart. However, there has been significant research into omega-6 fatty acids, such as the one from study co-author Frank Hu of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. It shows that consuming fatty acids reduces the risk of heart disease. 4. They are easy to carry around.

For some people, carrying around a quick snack is necessary, so they don’t go too long without eating. People with strict work schedules, specific diet plans, hypoglycemic issues, and more can benefit from having a healthy snack available. They can put the nuts in a sipper-top bag or some other small container and place them in a purse, pocket, or backpack.

Walnuts are an excellent bridge from one meal to the next. That goes into the following reason. 5. They help you to feel full.

Walnuts are the perfect snack between meals because you can eat a small amount and feel satiated till your next meal. The reason for this is that they contain a high amount of fiber per serving. Fiber is what makes you feel full.

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that average adults eat around 25 grams of fiber each day. There are five grams of fiber per cup of these delicious nuts. To put this in perspective, there are only 1.9 grams of fiber per slice of wheat bread. 6. You can support local farmers.

Health benefits aren’t the only benefits of eating these nuts. This year, farms have been hit hard. Many farms have shut their doors for good because they didn’t have enough resources to survive the pandemic.

Buying goods from local farms will help boost the economy, not to mention the farmers! You’ll also be getting the freshest nuts you can get since they don’t have to go through the traveling process to make it to a store halfway across the country. 7. They can improve your memory.

Studies linking the nuts to memory improvement mostly focuses on the elderly. These studies show that foods that are rich in polyphenol improve verbal memory in older adults. This research indicates that the nuts can be used to fight off some effects from memory-related disorders. Walnuts have the most polyphenol of all nuts. They contain 1591.5 mg of polyphenol per 100 g of nuts.

There are a few studies done on the effects of the nuts on young adults’ cognitive performance . They show that the nuts have a small positive impact. Save Research explains the many benefits of the Mediterranean Diet, including brain health. 8. They make a great addition to salads.

If you want to spruce up a salad , toss in half a cup of the nuts to give it a crunch and a buttery taste. Apple walnut salads are immensely popular. The apple and walnut chunks give you a healthy dose of fiber, so even though you ate a salad, you’ll feel full for a while.

You can make a walnut salad with any of your favorite berries. Strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries are all great choices. Top it off with some balsamic vinaigrette dressing, and you’ll have a healthy treat. 9. They improve fertility in men.

If you want your soldiers to march better or to keep marching strong, you should eat the nuts regularly. Sperm is made of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which can be damaged by a process called lipid peroxidation . The nuts have a lot of polyunsaturated fatty acids. They essentially protect sperm cells while also replenishing any lost polyunsaturated fatty acids.

If you’re trying to conceive, the nuts will protect the sperm and keep the baby healthy. The walnut seems to be a miracle food for reproduction. 10. They taste good.

What better reason to eat something besides a great taste? Sure, there may be a few people out there who don’t […]

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