- Walnuts Are Top Nut for Heart-Healthy Antioxidants

[Korn]

Walnuts Are Top Nut for Heart-Healthy Antioxidants

ScienceDaily (Mar. 27, 2011) — A new scientific study positions walnuts in the number one slot among a family of foods that lay claim to being among Mother Nature's most nearly perfect packaged foods: Tree and ground nuts. In a report given in Anaheim, California at the 241st National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society on March 27, scientists presented an analysis showing that walnuts have a combination of more healthful antioxidants and higher quality antioxidants than any other nut.

[...]

Vinson also found that the quality, or potency, of antioxidants present in walnuts was highest among the nuts. Antioxidants in walnuts were 2-15 times as potent as vitamin E, renowned for its powerful antioxidant effects that protect the body against damaging natural chemicals involved in causing disease.
"There's another advantage in choosing walnuts as a source of antioxidants," said Vinson, who is with the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. "The heat from roasting nuts generally reduces the quality of the antioxidants. People usually eat walnuts raw or unroasted, and get the full effectiveness of those antioxidants."

[Gattona]

They are so highly thought of in Italy that their heart charity gives bags full away. I didn't know the advantages of eating them raw, I like cooking with them too.

[harpy]

I often put them in bread, but I do like them raw as well.

Homemade walnut and olive pesto is good on pasta and you don't really have to cook it, just stir it into the cooked pasta.

[Gattona]

Mmmmmm, with basil as well? I like them cooked with onions and potatoes and carrots with a good stock and bayleaves. Yum.

[Gwydion]

Toasted bagel, spread, peanut butter, grated carrot, a few crushed walnuts, maybe some raisins, drizzle of maple syrup. Mmmmm, heaven!

Does that count? ;-)

[harpy]

I don't see why it wouldn't Gwydion - do you feel if you enjoy it it mightn't work?

I don't usually put basil in with the walnuts and olives, Gattona, but it might be nice. I think I've done something similar with spinach leaves. The potato thing sounds interesting, sort of casserole?

[Korn]

In "Vegans at increased risk of developing blood clots and atherosclerosis", published today, walnuts (and B12. as expected) are also mentioned.

[twinkle]

In "Vegans at increased risk of developing blood clots and atherosclerosis", published today, walnuts (and B12. as expected) are also mentioned.

It's a shame whoever wrote that seems to get vegan and vegetarian mixed up at one point, and mentions seafood/shellfish as being a good source of omega 3 and b12 in a way that suggests they are suitable sources for vegetarians and vegans. They give the source of the research as the American Chemical Society, but it just leads to a general website rather than the study I was expecting to see. Not convinced.

[Korn]

It's a shame whoever wrote that seems to get vegan and vegetarian mixed up at one point, and mentions seafood/shellfish as being a good source of omega 3 and b12 in a way that suggests they are suitable sources for vegetarians and vegans.

I agree about mixing it up, but not really surprised...

They give the source of the research as the American Chemical Society, but it just leads to a general website rather than the study I was expecting to see.

They write that the article appears "in ACS' bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry". Maybe this is a printed, and not an online magazine?

Not convinced.

I'm not quite sure what you are not convinced about... ...but if you google eg. atherosclerosis vegan diet, you'll soon find a lot of reports which links standard diets to an increased, not decreased risk rate:

Conclusion: This study showed the beneficial effects of the vegetarian diet on the regression
of coronary atherosclerosis and in decreasing cholesterol, LDL, BMI and anginal class


Most medical authorities agree that meat is to be avoided in all cases of cardiovascular disease. This is because meat is high in saturated fat and cholesterol. In fact the evidence is now irrefutable; one study in 1985 at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands showed that a vegetarian diet could halt and even reverse the build up of plaque on the artery walls (atherosclerosis).(14) Then in 1990 scientists proved that a vegetarian diet alone (without any drugs) could regress coronary heart disease. The study was carefully controlled, an experimental group of patients matched with a control group. The experimental group were given a low fat vegetarian diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, legumes and soya products although they were not restricted in amount or calories. After one year, nearly 90% of those in the experimental group had reduced the size of arterial blockages and increased the blood flow to the heart whereas those in the control group (who had not been eating a vegetarian diet) had worsened.(15)


A low-fat vegan diet holds particular interest because of the contributions of lipid oxidation to atherosclerosis and other forms of cardiovascular disease, the authors continued. Moreover, some evidence suggests a gluten-free vegan diet might stimulate production or activity of anti-phosphorylcholine antibodies.

It has been found that if the diet is rich in saturated fatty acids as in the case of non-vegetarian diets, the blood fat levels become highly abnormal and the process of atherosclerosis starts right from childhood. So striking was this association, that ten years back in the Western countries, the public was warned through the television and radio media, that their children should not be given more than two eggs per week. In fact such sensational discoveries have led many people in the West to take to vegetarianism.

Vegan Diet May Lower Risk for Atherosclerosis in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis

A gluten-free vegan diet in Rheumatoid Arthritis induces changes that are potentially atheroprotective and anti-inflammatory, including decreased LDL and oxLDL levels and raised anti-PC IgM and IgA levels," the study authors write. "In contrast, the balanced diet in the control group did not influence lipid values significantly."

Limitations of the study include small sample size and possible issues with compliance to diet.

"We hypothesize that these changes are atheroprotective since LDL is atherogenic and oxLDL has immune-stimulatory and proinflammatory effects in atherosclerosis," the study authors conclude. "Furthermore, anti-PC levels are negatively associated with the development of atherosclerosis. To further clarify which components of a vegan diet and which underlying mechanisms that contribute to the effects described here is therefore of interest both in the context of CVD [cardiovascular disease] in RA, and in RA in general, where diet intervention as here has an ameliorating effects in many patients."

And from Peta:
Clean Clogged Arteries With A Vegan Diet

Elevated cholesterol (anything above 150) promotes atherosclerosis—the buildup of cholesterol, fat, and cells in the arteries that feed the heart muscle. Incidentally, while the average cholesterol level in the U.S. is 210, the average vegetarian's cholesterol level is 161 and the average vegan's cholesterol level is 133. People with cholesterol levels below 150 virtually never have heart attacks, while nearly one-third of meat-eaters will die from one.

Heart researchers have found that a low-fat vegan diet is the best diet for lowering cholesterol levels. Plant foods contain no cholesterol, whereas meat, eggs, and dairy products contain large amounts of cholesterol and saturated fats, which can cause arteries to become hard and clogged. Plus, the high fiber content of a vegetarian diet helps eliminate excess cholesterol from the digestive tract. (Meat, dairy products, and eggs have no fiber at all.)

Dr. William Castelli, director of the famous Framingham Heart Study (the longest-running clinical study in medical history), says about heart disease, "If Americans adopted a vegetarian diet, the whole thing would disappear." He states that Americans have been "brainwashed to eat meat."