Walnuts: A Healthy Snack That's Great For Your Entire Body

Walnut benefits are innumerable and eating walnuts on a regular basis is surely going to improve your overall health and fitness from the inside as well as outside. Thus, it’s time to inculcate the walnut diet to live healthily.

Nuts and dried fruits aren’t merely used for seasoning and decorating the tastiest meals and desserts, they are equally important for the overall health and wellness of your body.

Out of all the nuts and dried fruits, walnuts are considered to be the most important and healthiest nuts which further prove to be a boon for your overall health and wellness.

Walnut benefits are limitless, so let’s understand everything about this nut.

What Are Walnuts?

Walnuts are the round and single-seeded stone fruits growing in the walnut trees.

The walnut trees are native to the parts of North America, however, today they are grown very common in the regions like Iran, China, and within the areas of California and Arizona in the United States.

A number of walnut nutrition facts have proven that walnuts are considered to be the ‘brain food’. The very common notion of the appearance of walnut as of that of a brain further justifies the statement.

Thus, considering the same reason, walnuts are considered to be a symbol of intelligence and walnut benefits for the brain are numerous.

Walnuts have a number of benefits which aren’t just restricted to improving the overall activities and functioning of your brain but aiding your health in a number of other ways as well.

Keeping all the walnut benefits in mind, it can be said that walnuts truly are one of the most important nuts that shall be consumed on a daily basis.

Walnuts are basically two in types – black and brown. However, brown walnuts are more common and widespread in nature.

Apart from their super delicious taste, walnuts comprise of various proteins and antioxidants which aid in parting a number of walnut benefits for health.

Walnuts Nutrition Facts

This small nut is rich in a number of nutrients which are beneficial for your body in a number of ways.

Approximately one ounce of raw walnuts or 28.35 grams of walnuts contain the following essential nutrients:

185 calories;
3.89 grams of carbohydrates;
0.74 grams of sugar;
1.9 grams of fiber;
4.32 grams of protein;
48 percent of manganese;
22 percent of copper;
11 percent of magnesium;
10 percent of phosphorus;
8 percent of Vitamin B;
5 percent of iron.

Apart from all these nutrients, walnuts also contain high amounts of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats as well as good sources of protein. Nuts are always considered to be high in calorie and high in terms of fat.

However, walnuts nutrition include all the good fats which are beneficial for your body. All these fats are nothing but healthy fats which are considered to be good for your heart. Walnut cholesterol is also considered to be good for your body.

The combination of protein, fiber as well as healthy fats in walnuts always increases satisfaction and fullness. This makes them a good snack in comparison with plain carbohydrate foods such as crackers, chips, and many others.

What Are Walnuts Good For?

Consuming all kinds of plant-based foods has always been associated with a reduced risk of a number of health conditions related to today’s lifestyle.

A number of studies have timely suggested that the consumption of plant-based foods such as walnuts always decrease the risks of diabetes, obesity, heart disease, as well as overall mortality.

Eating these foods also promote healthy growth in hair, complexion, and an increase in overall energy, as well as overall lower weight.

Following are considered to be the walnuts benefits in terms of health:

1. Heart Health

Walnuts comprise polyunsaturated as well as monounsaturated fatty acids that help to decrease the LDL cholesterol as well as triglyceride levels which further reduces the risks of stroke, cardiovascular disease, and even heart attack.

According to various studies, people who consume nuts on a regular basis have 37 percent chances of lowering their coronary heart diseases than people who don’t.

Alongside, walnuts cholesterol is considered to be good for health.

2. Walnuts For Weight Loss

Routine consumption of walnuts is often associated with elevated resting energy expenditure. The weight loss diet that includes walnuts and other nuts on their menu is likely to be more effective than the diet which doesn’t include the intake of nuts.

This is one of the major walnut benefits that could be utilized by people who are looking forward to losing weight.

3. Gallstone Disease

Frequent consumption of walnuts is also associated with a reduction of cholecystectomy which is nothing but an operation to remove the gallbladder. This problem has become a very common illness among a number of people.

According to this study, people who consume more than 5 ounces of walnuts a week have a lower risk of cholecystectomy than the people who don’t.

4. Bone Health

The proteins in walnuts along with mineral copper are considered to be a boon for the overall health of your bones.

Severe deficiency of copper is mainly associated with the lower bone mineral density which in turn increases the risk of osteoporosis, especially in the women.

Osteoporosis refers to a condition where the bones become less dense and thinner and hence they have a chance of an easier break or fracture.

Copper also plays a vital role as to the maintenance of collagen and elastin in the body which are considered to be the body’s major components.

Without the sufficient presence of copper, your body is unable to replace the connective tissues or collagen that are damaged. This condition could lead to a number of issues including the dysfunction of joints.

Walnuts comprise a high amount of protein and manganese which is proven to prevent the problem of osteoporosis in tandem with the adequate amount of copper and calcium.

Moreover, other minerals, as well as magnesium present in walnuts, are considered to be important for the formation of bones as the same helps to absorb the calcium into the bone.

5. Epilepsy

Walnuts benefits also include the control of the chances of epilepsy in people. The level of manganese in walnuts are considered to be keeping the problem of epilepsy at bay.

A number of studies have proved that people who consume walnuts on a regular basis bear lesser chances of epilepsy than the people who avoid consuming walnuts.

Other Walnut Benefits

The other important benefits of the consumption of walnuts are the following:

1. Induces Sleep

Walnuts comprise a compound which is known as melatonin. This compound is responsible for conveying all the messages in regard to the cycle of light and dark to the brain and the body.

Since this compound is already synced by the body, the regular consumption of walnuts leads to an increase of melatonin in blood levels which eventually helps to induce sleep in the body.

2. Walnut Benefits For Hair

Walnut is also considered to be good hair food. This is because walnuts comprise a Vitamin B7, called biotin.

Biotin helps to strengthen the hair, reduce the hair fall, as well as improve the overall growth of your hair to a certain extent.

3. Boosts The Sperm Quality

One of the most important walnut benefits is that walnuts help to boost the overall sperm quality in men.

It is said that consumption of 2.5 ounces of walnuts per day helps to improve the quality of semen in young and healthy men.

Also, eating 75 grams of walnuts a day helps to improve the motility, vitality, as well as morphology in healthy men.

4. Walnut For Your Skin

Walnuts are rich in several antioxidants as well as B-vitamins which prevent your skin from all kinds of free radical damages, thereby preventing wrinkles and other signs of aging.

5. Helps You Live Longer

Walnuts aren’t considered to be the healthiest nuts in words, but in spirit as well. It is said that eating a handful of walnuts is the key to longer as well as a healthier life.

According to the studies, walnuts also cut the risk of dying from various deadly illnesses such as cancer.

6. Walnuts For Pregnant Women

Walnuts are considered to be a great source of a variety of nutrients for pregnant women. The mothers-to-be who consume a diet rich in fatty acids such as walnuts are likely to deliver healthy babies with a reduced risk of food allergies.

The levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) present in walnuts also help to improve gut immune cells and their response to the bacteria and other foreign substances, thereby making the baby less likely to suffer from various kinds of allergies.

7. Walnuts For The Reduction Of Breast Cancer

A number of researches have been done and it has been concluded that walnuts reduce the chances of breast cancer in women.

A daily dose of 2 ounces of walnuts tends to reduce the growth of the tumors that develop breast cancer in the female.

8. Walnuts For The Reduction Of Stress

A lot of stress is bad for your overall health and walnuts sure help you out in healing it and removing all kind of unwanted stress from your life.

According to this study, walnuts help to fight stress. The regular use of walnuts in your daily diet, including walnut oil, helps to lower the resting blood pressure as well as blood pressure responses.

Walnuts are also considered to be a good source of fiber, unsaturated fatty acids, omega-3 fatty acids, and many others that possess all kinds of stress-fighting properties.

9. Powerful Antioxidants

One of the biggest walnut benefits is that walnuts are full of powerful antioxidants that keep you active, healthy, and fit throughout your life.

Walnuts are full of polyphenols which are considered to be healthy antioxidants. Thus, this property of walnuts contribute to a number of other health benefits, thereby keeping you fit and healthy.

10. Rich In Dietary Fiber

One cup of walnuts comprises of 7.8 grams of fiber, which is approximately 30 percent of the daily value.

Apart from aiding weight loss, the presence of dietary fiber in walnuts also help to normalize the movements of bowel and the same helps to control the levels of blood sugar in the body.

Being a part of a healthy diet, walnuts also help to reduce the risk of irritable bowel syndrome, the risk of stroke, kidney stones, as well as hemorrhoids.

How To Eat Walnuts In Your Daily Diet?

Walnuts are considered to be having a high-fat content and hence they are very prone to becoming rancid.

Thus, it is always suggested to keep the walnuts in places that are cool, dark, and dry in order to improve their overall shelf life.

If the walnuts are properly stored, they can keep good for a few months at room temperature, a year in the refrigerator, as well as two years in the freezer.

Rancid nuts though are not unsafe, but they develop a sharp flavor which eventually becomes unpleasant to the taste buds.

Since walnut benefits are innumerable in nature, it is always suggested to include these nuts in your daily diet. Y

ou can include the walnuts in your daily diet and eat them in the following forms:

A salad can be made having chopped walnuts as one of the major ingredients.
You can prepare homemade granola using a mixture of seeds, dried fruits, and nuts, including walnuts. Eating granola comes with an added number of health benefits.
You can prepare a pesto sauce for pasta or a flatbread using walnut as the main ingredient.
A bowl of yogurt can be topped using fruits and chopped walnuts for an enhanced taste.

The usage of walnuts is limitless, you can add it to almost any kind of food. Your imagination is the limit here.

NOTE: Walnuts are considered to be dense in calories and hence they should always be consumed in moderate quantities.

The above-listed advantages and health benefits of walnuts surely make them one of the richest foods to opt for if you are looking forward to maintaining good health from the inside as well as outside.