Walnuts can help us stay healthy as we age

Walnuts have innumerable health benefits and now, a recent study has revealed that their daily consumption can help ward off age-related health issues.

Initial findings from the Walnuts and Healthy Aging (WAHA) study, presented at Experimental Biology 2016 (EB), indicated that daily walnut consumption positively impacts blood cholesterol levels without adverse effects on body weight among older adults.

"Given walnuts are a high-energy food, a prevailing concern has been that their long term consumption might be associated with weight gain," said Dr. Emilio Ros, director of the Lipid Clinic. "The preliminary results of the WAHA study demonstrate that daily consumption of walnuts for one year by a sizable cohort of aging free-living persons has no adverse effects on body weight."

Ros added that they also show that the well-known cholesterol-lowering effect of walnut diets works equally well in the elderly and is maintained in the long term. Acquiring the good fats and other nutrients from walnuts while keeping adiposity at bay and reducing blood cholesterol levels are important to overall nutritional well-being of aging adults. It's encouraging to see that eating walnuts may benefit this particular population.

"As we continue the WAHA study, we will assess how walnut consumption may affect, among other outcomes, cognitive decline and age-related macular degeneration, conditions that were major public health concerns," said Dr. Ros.

Additional new research abstracts presented at EB suggest walnuts may have the potential to positively affect several important health factors, including gut health, hunger and satiety, and metabolic health.

Scientific conclusions cannot yet be drawn from abstracts presented at EB 2016, but these findings help advance the understanding of potential benefits of eating walnuts as part of a healthy diet.