Do it with walnuts! They are the real brain food and with their two-lobed appearance resembling a brain, it’s no wonder they support our cognitive function and can help in sharpening our memory. Adding them to our diet can be an important step in optimizing nutrition, as well as improving our brain and heart health.

 

Let’s undress walnuts health promoting benefits.

The biggest benefit of walnuts is that they are rich in omega 3 fatty acids, which are not produced in the human body. Therefore, including foods like walnuts in our diet on a daily basis is necessary. Three cheers for walnuts!

So why do we need Omega 3’s anyway? Omega 3 fatty acids play a significant role in our brain function. They are highly concentrated in the brain and therefore appear to be important in brain memory and performance. Since our brain is made up mostly of fat, we need to ensure this fat is healthy. Eating walnuts helps to do this.

Omega 3 fats provide protection for the cardiovascular system, which is made up of the heart and blood vessels.  These helpful fatty acids may help to reduce triglycerides, high blood pressure, cholesterol, and inflammation, which are all dangerous for cardiovascular health. We want to have a healthy heart because it helps pump blood through the blood vessel channel and delivers blood and oxygen throughout the body. This helps to ensure a healthy sexy body!

Therefore, by reducing consumption of saturated fat foods (e.g. meat and dairy) as well as eliminating trans fats (e.g. hydrogenated oils) and replacing them with polyunsaturated fatty acids like the Omega 3 in walnuts, you help improve your brain and cardiovascular health. Amazing! 🙂

Also, walnuts contain omega 6 fatty acids and together with omega 3 fats they do other wondrous things to the body such as energy production, recovery from fatigue, maintenance of healthy skin, healing and recovery from illness, and reduction of premenstrual symptoms.

How to eat these health-promoting warriors

Here’s some more good news about walnuts; they are perfect for snacking. If you have the munchies, just have a handful and if you like, throw in an apple to boost nutrition even further! You can also add walnuts to your salads for some extra crunch or use them for baking by adding them to your favourite cookies for some added nutrients. Furthermore, you will be happy to know that walnuts are available all year round.  So… have you had your walnuts today?

Let me know how you eat your walnuts by leaving a comment below. Also, help me spread this heart healthy snack by sharing this post on facebook and twitter.

Click here to help me share this on twitter

Guest Writer: Irene Liu, CNP
Irene Liu is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist with a passion for nutritional education. She is a health and wellness writer as well as a personal nutrition coach. Her goal is to inspire others to live a happy and healthy life filled with delicious food.