Properties of nuts

Walnuts, the fruit of the walnut tree, is a nut with enormous nutrients and beneficial properties for our health. Properties of walnuts that we are going to discover in this article and that will help you to eat walnuts more often. We will also give you some delicious recipes or how to eat them, for example with honey, as well as basic advice on how to preserve them and that you should never eat them when they are rancid. We will also give you some basic advice on how to preserve them and that you should never eat them when they are rancid, as rancid nuts are very harmful to your health.

Summary: Walnuts are a highly nutritious nut that provides us with a large number of benefits. At the same time, we must be careful with excessive consumption as they are very calorific. Moreover, in our shop in Las Rozas de Madrid, we only offer you one product with walnuts, honey with walnuts and dried fruits. In the cortijuelo of San Benito we have at your disposal orange blossom to which we have added delicious Spanish walnuts.

Other interesting articles: Benefits of olive oil. Properties of rosemary. Properties of lavender. Benefits of legumes. Proven properties of cinnamon. Properties of garlic. Properties of walnuts. Properties of almonds. Properties of lemon. Properties of blueberries. Properties of chocolate. Properties of eggs. Benefits of apple cider vinegar.

1. What are walnuts?

Walnuts, as mentioned above, are the fruit of the walnut tree.

Walnuts are one of the most nutrient-rich foods in the world, containing: proteins, fatty acids: saturated (11%), monounsaturated (16%), polyunsaturated (68%) including omega-3 and omega-6; minerals: magnesium, selenium, potassium, iron, zinc and calcium; vitamins: B1, B2, B3 (niacin), folic acid and vitamin B6, antioxidants and fibre.

2. Properties and contraindications of walnuts:

Scientific literature has shown the following benefits that nuts have for our health:

a) Heart:

Components of nuts, such as monounsaturated fatty acids and alpha-linolenic acids increase the flexibility of the arteries, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. They also reduce low-density LDL cholesterol, the so-called bad cholesterol.

b) Alzheimer’s disease, cancer and Parkinson’s disease

Studies by Dr. Rusel J. Reiter, a neuroendocrinology specialist and professor of neuroendocrinology at the San Antonio University Health Science Center in Texas and published in Nutrition: The International Journal of Applied and Basic Nutritional Sciencies , nutrient-rich nuts, melatonin hormone, antioxidants, and omega-3 fatty acids may prevent and lessen the effects of cancer and other neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.

The hormone melatonin is also found in other foods such as corn, tomatoes and potatoes, but it is in the nut where it is found in much higher concentrations.

Other studies published in The Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and conducted in mice showed that nuts have protective effects against oxidative stress and cell death of neurons, caused by amyloid protein, a protein that forms senile plaques and blocks signals that are transmitted between neurons.

c) Sleep

The celebrium, exactly one gland found in it, the pineal gland, secretes melatonin, and this is secreted in greater quantities during the night. This is why melatonin is associated with improved sleep.

The consumption of nuts, rich in melatonin, increases the content of this hormone in the body.

d) Diabetes

According to a study published in the Journal of the American Association (JAMA), regular consumption of nuts reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes by helping the body improve its ability to use its insulin and at the same time regulating the amount of glucose in the blood.

e) Memory

Studies conducted at the University of California and published in the Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging, nut consumption improves memory, concentration and information processing speed.

f) It prolongs life

A study carried out in 1986 and prolonged for more than 20 years at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands and published in the journal JAMA International Medicine showed that consumption of nuts and peanuts reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and is associated with a lower risk of mortality in general.

g) Breast cancer

Another study published in the journal Nutrition and Cancer and conducted on mice by Elaine Hardman of Marshall’s Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall’s University (USA) showed that regular consumption of nuts significantly reduces the risk of breast cancer.

Components of nuts, such as their omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and phytosterols could slow the growth of cancer cells and change the activity of multiple genes in the human body, slowing the growth of these malignant cells.

h) Prostate cancer

Numerous studies such as that published in the journal Cancer Investigation in mice have shown that regular consumption of nuts reduces the risk of developing prostate cancer and slows its growth. This inhibiting effect of cancer cells would be caused by their alpha-linolenic acids, omega-3 acids, antioxidants and phytosterols.

i) Male infertility

A high percentage of infertility is attributable to the quality of male sperm, as some studies suggest that its quality has decreased in industrialized countries with increased pollution, and less healthy lifestyles.

According to the journal Biology of Reproduction, the regular consumption of nuts improves the vitality, mobility and morphology of sperm, although more research is needed to confirm these studies.

j) Contraindications

There are no contraindications for the consumption of nuts.

Photo 1: Honey with nuts and pine nuts

3. How many nuts a day should we eat?

We don’t give food the importance it has, until we have a serious health problem, and then, we go to the opposite extreme, even becoming obsessed with it.

A balanced, healthy diet and healthy lifestyles are objectives that we must always set ourselves. These objectives should not be treated as something punctual, but as a routine for every day, because it is of little use to stuff ourselves with nuts, extra virgin olive oil, honey and other healthy foods for a few weeks, and then forget everything, and continue consuming industrialized foods and not exercising.

Moreover, food plays a fundamental role in our health and in the delay or never appearance of diseases and we can not believe in those miracle products that everything promises us and can cause deficiencies in our body and worsen our health.

For this reason, we also wonder how many nuts we should take each day. There are different theories, one of them is that of the fist. That is to say, all the peeled nuts that fit us in a handful. I’m quite reluctant about these theories and others that you can find on the Internet. I recommend taking 5 or 6, but if you feel like some more at that time, you don’t have to worry about eating too much. However, keep in mind that nuts are very calorific.

Looking now at the way of consuming them, nuts are best eaten raw, because if they are toasted, they lose a lot of their beneficial components and antioxidants. A delicious way to take them is by bathing them in raw honey or in salads.

According to the American Chemical Society, walnuts are the healthiest nuts and are the ones with the highest antioxidant content, being these 15 times more powerful than vitamin E.

According to the Public Health England (PHE) campaign, middle-aged people who follow healthy lifestyles are twice as likely to be in good health at ages over 70. In addition, as Professor Muir Gray says in one of these campaigns, “many of the most widespread diseases can be prevented.

4. We can eat walnuts at night?

The nut helps to fall asleep, so people who have a very light sleep or have trouble falling asleep, a good way to remedy it is to take some nuts for dessert dinner.

What is very important about walnuts is that they should be fresh and we should never take a rancid nut, because it is full of peroxides, aldehydes and ketones, compounds that accelerate our aging and increase the chances of developing degenerative diseases.

We also recommend you to read about our article: Properties of lemon

5. Properties of California walnuts: better or worse than Spanish walnuts?

The properties of Californian and Spanish walnuts are the same, as they are both nuts. However, Spanish walnuts, if bought fresh and from the year, will have more benefits. Therefore, the most important thing is that the nuts are fresh and not rancid. If they come from California, they can be mixed with nuts from the other year and they will be less fresh.

Sources: http://infoalimenta.com/