Walnuts May Be Good For Your Heart
Posted July 25, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
There are all kinds of medicines out there to help fight heart disease.
But there may be one that’s available at your grocery store instead of your pharmacy.
A new study indicates the lowly walnut may be good for what ails you – and your aching heart.
The four year probe in Spain showed eating just a few of the delicious de-shelled snacks can cut your risk of a heart attack by as much as 50 percent. How can such a small nut have such a big benefit?
“Walnuts are high in omega-3 fatty acids, and we know omega-3 fatty acids are good for our heart,” explains nutritionist Carol Dombrow.
But while the news is good, the fact remains most people simply don’t eat a lot of walnuts, expect maybe at Christmas-time.
Still, you shouldn’t shovel them down by the bowlful. Just a little will do a lot for your ticker. Too many won’t be good for your waistline. Instead, they should be just a small part of a healthy Mediterranean-style diet.
“It’s a most concentrated source of calories,” Dombrow warns. “So when we say add walnuts to your diet, we’re talking about a small handful. We’re not talking about half a bag.”
Other research has shown they can help cut back on cholesterol and reduce the risk for type II diabetes.
Which means keeping healthy may not be such a tough nut to crack after all.
