As the holiday festivities come to a close, many individuals begin to contemplate New Year’s resolutions for 2014. Eating better and adopting healthier lifestyles are at the forefront of minds, which many think means putting away the holiday treats, and suffering through a bland and boring diet that lacks luster. Although corking the Champagne bottles and wrapping up the pastries is probably a wise choice, keeping your holiday bowl of walnuts out is a smart and delicious choice. Walnuts are the holiday gift that keeps on giving. Along with adding flavor and texture to your holiday meal, new research suggests that adding walnuts to the diet may also be a key to longevity, by improving health and fighting disease.
Published in BMC Medicine, a recent report from the landmark PREDIMED trial found that individuals at high risk for cardiovascular disease, who followed a Mediterranean diet and consumed at least three servings of walnuts per week, had 45% lower risk of all-cause mortality. Similar findings reported in the New England Journal of Medicine found significant inverse association for deaths due to cancer, heart disease and respiratory diseases among 76,464 women from the Nurses’ Health Study and 42,498 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study who consumed nuts, including walnuts. The participants’ nut intake was assessed at baseline and updated every two to four years, while any participants with a previous history of cancer, heart disease, or stroke were excluded from the study. The results suggest that increasing nut consumption, including walnuts, is associated with reduced total and cause-specific mortality by 20% in both women and men, independent of other predictors for death.
Dr. Michael Roizen, the Chief Wellness Officer and Chair of the Wellness Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, and co-author of the newly updated New York Times bestselling book: “You: The Owner’s Manual,” is not surprised by these findings. He believes you can delay aging and help prevent disease through lifestyle factors including incorporating exercise, eating whole foods and not smoking. “Food is one of the key components to staying young and living longer with great vitality, and eating the right types of fats, as found in walnuts, is an essential element in this process,” says Dr. Roizen. “In fact, because of the nutrient composition of walnuts, I recommend my patients eat six walnut halves 30 minutes before a meal as it helps curb the appetite while increasing their omega-3 fats,” he adds.
As the only nut that is an excellent source of the plant-based omega-3 fatty acid – alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), along with its fiber and protein, walnuts have a unique nutrient profile that researchers believe provides cardio protective, anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. In fact, more than two decades of research has supported the benefits of walnuts in the areas of heart health, diabetes, cancer, cognition, weight management and reproductive health, resulting in more than 120 published papers in peer-reviewed journals.
Author of “The Longevity Kitchen,” Rebecca Katz believes food is your most powerful tool in living healthy. She combines smart nutrition with superb flavor and offers recipes that anyone can make and share. To help get your readers off on the right foot for improving their diet, these delicious, nutrient-rich energy bites that combine longevity superstars, including blueberries, oats and walnuts, are the perfect gift or treat at your next get-together. These delicious morsels are sure to become a New Year’s tradition that (just like the bowls of in-shell walnuts on dining room tables) will be enjoyed for many years to come.