Eating one serving of walnuts a week may reduce our risk of dying from heart disease by 50%. That’s a great reason to add walnuts to our nut selection! As long as we’re not allergic to nuts, of course. Multiple studies have been done to figure out how this happens. In short, walnuts help our arteries dilate better to facilitate blood flow. Studies have also been made on the effect of other nuts but, so far, only walnuts seem to offer this amazing benefit. Even comparing English walnuts (the common walnuts) vs. black walnuts shows that only the common kind offers this amazing benefit, apparently due to its high antioxidant levels.
Walnuts stand out amongst other popular nuts because they offer us a significant amount of omega-3 fatty acids. In fact, one serving of walnuts gives us the optimal ratio of about 1:2 omega-3 vs. omega-6 fatty acids. This, together with other antioxidant and anti-inflammatory components like vitamin B6, make walnuts a great ally to our brain. According to this review, eating walnuts regularly can improve our cognition and reduce the risk and/or progression of brain disorders including mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, and depression.
While walnuts are clearly a great addition to our diet, they lack some key nutrients that other nuts have, like vitamin E, highly present in almonds or even peanuts, and most B vitamins. They do offer a significant amount of manganese and copper, though, and a good amount of protein, magnesium, phosphorus, and zinc.
Aside from our heart and brain health, based on their nutritional profile, walnuts can also have a great impact in our immunity, our reproductive health, our lungs, our hair and skin, our metabolism, and our children’s early development.
Try them whole, raw or lightly roasted, or blend them to make delicious vinaigrettes and sauces. Check out our personalized nutrition calculator below to see just how much nutrition you and your family can get from eating walnuts.
Nutrition Calculator: Walnuts
Use our personalized nutrition calculator to discover the percentage of daily nutrition needs you and your family can get from eating walnuts.
Nutrition needs vary according to age, sex, and whether women of reproductive age are pregnant or breastfeeding. Fill out the form below for yourself and for your family members to get personalized results.*
* Calculated as a percentage of the Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs) as established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Based on nutritional information provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as an average of multiple raw walnuts samples.