Walnuts

Walnuts have amazing health benefits. Walnuts improve cardiovascular function and have wonderful anti-inflammatory properties.

But did you know that walnuts could help you get a better night's sleep and help lower risk of weight gain? Nuts have gotten a bad rap for being too high in fat, but the truth about nuts is that nuts, especially walnuts, are a powerhouse of nutrition. Here are some healthy reasons to get more walnuts into your diet.

Do you have trouble getting a good night's sleep? Walnuts can help; here's why. The body's pineal gland produces the hormone melatonin that induces sleep and helps regulate sleep. This hormone is found in walnuts--making walnuts a great evening or bedtime snack for improving your sleep.

Although high in fats and concentrated in calories, the fats in walnuts are healthy fats. And walnuts are a great source of fibre and protein. As a result, eating walnuts helps you feel full and feel satisfied. This is good news for dieters.

Walnuts are a great source of anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids, an essential fatty acid that the body can't manufacture. Its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant defence protects healthy cells from the damaging effects of free radicals.

Some conditions that walnuts provide defence against are eczema, psoriasis, asthma, and rheumatoid arthritis. But most notably, the photochemical ellegic acid helps support the immune system by preventing cancer cells from reproducing.

There are other health benefits to you from eating as little as one to two handful of walnuts a week. Walnuts have been shown to lower your risk of gallstones and lower your bad cholesterol. What's more, the omega-3 fatty acids that lower LDL cholesterol are much higher in walnuts than other nuts.

Omega-3 fatty acids help prevent erratic heart rhythms, make blood less likely to clot, and impact how much plaque accumulates in blood vessels. The essential amino acide, l-argnine, helps blood vessels relax and
remain smooth, improving the elasticity of the blood vessel. This means improved mental function and protection against heart disease and stroke.

Eating walnuts reduces your risk of coronary heart disease. But simply adding walnuts on top of high calorie meals laden with saturated fat isn't the way to go about it. Instead, you need to replace foods containing high amounts of saturated fat with walnuts.

Improve your health the delicious way. Grab a handful of walnuts today, and help improve your cardiovascular health, help protect yourself from damaging free radicals, improve your sleep, and so much more.

Contain: Very high in Omega-3 fatty acids, Manganese and Copper

Best eaten: Raw or sprinkled onto a salad