What Nuts are the Healthiest?

During this time of year when diet and exercise are a top priority, more and more people are grabbing a handful of walnuts.  According to new research published in Food and Function, researchers from The University of Scranton in Scranton, Pa., compared the amount of powerful antioxidants called polyphenols in nine types of roasted and raw nuts and two types of peanut butter in an attempt to "crack" the antioxidant code. The results? Walnuts are the valedictorian.

Walnuts Anyone?

Prostate cancer is a major health concern for men that strikes approximately one in six men and is a leading cause of male cancer deaths in the United States(1). New research offers hope in this fight - according to findings published in the British Journal of Nutrition, walnuts may help reduce prostate cancer risk. Researchers at the University of California - Davis and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Western Regional Research Center in Albany, California found that prostate tumors in mice fed the human equivalent of three ounces per day of walnuts were approximately 50% smaller and grew 30% slower than prostate tumors in control mice. In addition to lower plasma Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), a biomarker strongly associated with prostate cancer, walnut fed mice had lower LDL (bad) cholesterol as well as distinct differences in their liver metabolome, a chemical inventory of what the liver - a major source of both IGF-1 and cholesterol - is doing (see also California Walnut Commission).

Walnuts: Another Wonder Food?

WALNUTS are the healthiest nuts to eat, according to scientists

They are loaded with antioxidants and snacking on just seven a day could help ward off disease and lower cholesterol.  Walnuts contain very high levels of polyphenol, an anti-oxidant which can protect the body from molecules which damage tissue.