Ever notice that a walnut looks just like the human brain? According to ancient wisdom, this is more than just a coincidence. Considering one of the biggest benefits of walnuts nutrition is the ability to support your most important organ — the brain — walnuts have now been scientifically proven to be a true “brain food” and a leader among all nuts.
Walnuts can help improve your mood considering they contain one of the highest amounts of omega-3 fats of any nut. In addition to the remarkable things that omega-3 foods can do for your mind, they’re also known to support heart health and fight heart disease by lowering triglyceride levels and reducing dangerous plaque formation in the arteries.
And walnuts can be a great tool for weight management too. Did you know dieting can actually make you fat? But eating natural fat doesn’t! According to some studies, eating a few walnuts, about four to six halves, before meals decreases people’s perceived level of hunger and may cause people to eat less later in the day.
Walnuts Nutrition Facts
Would you believe walnuts have been providing crucial nutrients to humans for up to 8,000 years? A report on walnuts published in the American Journal of Nutrition states that “Compared to most other nuts, which contain monounsaturated fatty acids, walnuts are unique because they are rich in n-6 (linoleate) and n-3 (linolenate) polyunsaturated fatty acids. Walnuts contain multiple health-beneficial components, such as having a low lysine: arginine amino acid ratio and high levels of arginine, folate, fiber, tannins, and polyphenols.”
As you’ve probably noticed, one of the areas where walnuts nutrition shines most is the nut’s high supply of omega-3s benefits. Omega-3 fatty acids are not only helpful for heart health and brain health, but also for controlling inflammation, improving circulation, memory, thought processing and blood sugar control.
The human species evolved on a diet that contained high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids — the kind found in wild fish like salmon, flaxseeds, walnuts and wild game — and much less of the polyunsaturated fats called omega-6 fatty acids, found in vegetable oils, packaged foods, and some nuts and seeds.
In the past several centuries, we have gradually consumed more omega-6s, especially from vegetable oils, and on average much fewer omega-3 foods. Not surprisingly, at the same time heart disease, cognitive disorders and depression rates have gradually increased. Instead of the roughly ideal two-to-one, or even one-to-one, ratio of fats consumed by our ancient ancestors, today it’s believed that the average American eats 15 to 25 times more omega-6 fats than omega-3s!
Eating more walnuts as part of a healing diet can help to close this gap and prevent disease development; for example, walnuts nutrition benefits were praised in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease as providing a “significant improvement in memory, learning ability, anxiety, and motor development compared to the control diets without walnuts.”
In addition to omega-3s, walnuts (which have the scientific name Juglans regia L.) provide plenty of other noteworthy nutrients, too.
One ounce of walnuts, or about 14 halves, has about:
187 calories
5 grams fat
4 grams protein
2 grams fiber
Less than 1 gram sugar
4 grams carbs
4 milligrams manganese (48 percent DV)
4 milligrams copper (22 percent DV)
45 milligrams magnesium (11 percent DV)
98 milligrams phosphorus (10 percent DV)
2 milligrams vitamin B6 (8 percent DV)
7 milligrams folate (7 percent DV)
1 milligram thiamine (6 percent DV)
Omega-3 Fatty Acids: A Star of Walnut Nutrition
To be clear, the type of omega-3 fatty acids found in walnuts, in addition to some other nuts and seeds like chia seeds and flaxseeds, is not the same kind of omega-3 found in fish like salmon. Most of the research on omega-3 fats that demonstrate such strong cardiovascular and brain-boosting benefits involve the two omega-3 fats that are found in fish: EPA and DHA.
The kind of omega-3 found in walnuts is called ALA , or alpha- linolenic acid. It’s believed that the body can make the preferred types, EPA and DHA, from the type found in walnuts (ALA), but it can’t necessarily do such a great job of this.
While ALA omega-3 fats from walnuts have plenty of health benefits — and walnuts themselves offer other nutrients, too –— I personally recommend getting more omega-3s from wild-caught fish and also supplements when necessary. It’s a good idea to consume all three types of omega-3 fats for optimal benefits, which is why it’s important to vary your diet and eat a variety of different foods.
7 Health Benefits of Walnuts
Help Fight Depression
Improve Brain Health and Preserve Memory
Improve Heart Health
Can Help Prevent Cancer
Make a Filling Snack and Support Weight Loss
Improve Reproductive Health and Aid in Growth and Development
Great Way to Increase Children’s Omega-3s