Benefits Of Walnut: Here’re The Reasons To Add Them In Your Diet
You may think of walnuts as a dessert ingredient or garnishing ingredient to your muffins, cookies, brownies, etc. But they are more than just a decorative ingredient. Packed with various healthy compounds such as essential Fats, Antioxidants, Vitamins, Proteins, Fiber, Trace minerals, walnuts are a superfood that shouldn’t be deprived of the diet because they are loaded with multiple health benefits.
Walnuts are cholesterol and sodium-free, in fact, they contain polyunsaturated fats instead of monounsaturated fats (a compound that is healthy for the body). The benefits of walnuts are impressive, that is why we bring you a list of surprising benefits of walnuts that may improve your overall health.
Before we dive into the walnut benefits, let’s have a quick review of the compounds contain in 1 Cup of Walnuts:
- Energy: 200 calories
- Protein: 5 grams
- Carbohydrate: 3.89 grams
- Sugar: 1 gram
- Fiber: 2 gram
- Calcium: 20 milligrams (mg)
- Iron: 0.72 milligrams
- Sodium: 0 mg
The combination of healthy fats, protein, fiber, calcium, and iron helps to boost satisfaction and the requirement of the body.
Let’s check out some reasons to include Walnuts in your daily diet
Anti-cancer
Due to the richness of Omega-3 fatty acids, walnuts can reduce the risk of cancer. The Omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants are proven agents to fight against cancer. Walnuts especially help to prevent breast, prostate, and pancreatic cancer.
Boost Metabolism
The components present in walnut can promote your metabolism. They are a good source of fatty acids and help with digestion, good growth and development, and other metabolic processes of the body.
Anti-Inflammatory
Walnuts have anti-inflammatory properties that have the capabilities to defeat many diseases associated with inflammation such as diabetes, arthritis, rheumatism, and many others. Consuming a handful of walnuts every day helps in combating these diseases effectively.
Improve memory
Walnut contains essential fatty acids such as Omega-3 and 6 that may help to improve memory and cognitive function. To reap most walnut benefits for the brain, try to include a good amount of walnuts in the daily diet directly or indirectly.
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Induce Sleep
As walnut is rich in multiple compounds, some compounds can help in the production of melatonin. It is a hormone that helps to induce sleep. If you’re suffering from sleep disorders, have some walnuts after dinner and sleep like a baby.
Improve Fertility
Besides other benefits, there are some benefits of walnuts for females also. Being rich in essential properties, walnuts help in the production of sperms and improves the quality of sperms. Walnuts add vitality and mobility to the sperm of man and woman.
Good for Hair & Skin
Let’s come to the most important benefit, the benefits of walnuts for skin and hair. Walnuts help to prevent the free radicals present in the environment that can cause the most damages to the body. Skin and hair get affected most as they are the most exposed part of the body. Free radicals are responsible for dry and wrinkled skin. Regular consumption of walnuts helps to fight against free radicals and also reduces dark circles.
If we talk about the walnut benefits for hair, walnuts are a good source of vitamins, minerals, and iron that helps in hair growth and make them stronger.
Read Also: Hair Loss -Causes, Types, Prevention & Treatment
Enhance Bone Strength
Walnut is itself rich in calcium and also helps to increase the absorption of calcium in the body. As well known, calcium helps to strengthen the bones, so a handful of walnuts is good to provide enough energy to your bones.
Control Blood Sugar Level
Another benefit on the list of benefits of walnuts is it reduces the risk of developing Type II diabetes. Having walnuts provide an excellent serving of protein, healthy fat, and fiber. Since they don’t add sugar in kilos, diabetics can consume them without worry.
Digestion Health
The fiber-rich property of walnuts helps to clean the gut and detoxify the body and increase the particular good bacteria strains, which could offer benefits to humans. It also prevents constipation and boosts good digestive health.
Weight Management
One of the most important benefits of walnuts that everyone would like to know is it maintains a healthy weight. The research suggested more effects on weight loss while including walnuts in the diet. Moderate consumption of walnut showed greater weight loss.
Heart health
Walnut rich in monounsaturated fatty acids like alpha-linolenic acid linolenic acid. They encourage the lipid supply, lower bad cholesterol, and increase the good cholesterol level. Heart health is mainly associated with blood pressure and walnuts help to control high blood pressure.
Prevent depression
Walnuts have plenty of Omega-3 acids that effectively help in preventing depression. A good diet also contributes to healthy mental health. Hence, a balanced diet including a handful of nuts is good to prevent depression.
Read also: 5 Physical Changes Indicating The Effects of Depression in your Body
How many walnuts a Day?
Walnuts are loaded with Proteins, Antioxidants, Vitamins, Calcium, and Minerals so adding them to your daily diet will help you to eliminate the free radicals in the body and recover all the damages done by them.
Considering eating 4-5 walnuts daily, either in the morning along with breakfast or as an evening snack. This quantity is enough to nourish the body with the best compounds.
Too much consumption of good things can be bad; consuming too many walnuts thinking they can provide more benefit can cause kidney stones. So moderate consumption is always better.
