Walnut is one beautiful nut and
surprisingly resembles a human brain in its shape with its ridges and grooves.
Walnuts are eaten as a snack and are frequently added into salads, soups and
desserts because of their tantalizingly yummy flavor and amazing crunch. But it
is almost impossible to take walnut out of its shell in one piece. And according
to Willy Wonka, only squirrels can do it. Since we don’t have squirrels at our disposal
to do it, we have to make peace with half segments (sed lyf). But mostly it’s small
chunks. Walnut oil is also used as a salad dressing.
On the inside, walnuts are mostly
fat. The fat is good fat and packs a lot of energy and calories. They have a
very high proportion of essential fatty acids (the fatty acids which your body
can’t synthesize and must be supplemented by food). Of the minerals, it has a
rich supply of copper, copper is necessary for the oxidative breakdown of food in
your body and is required for energy production. It also has decent amounts of
folic acid and a high amount of Vitamin E, the antioxidant. Besides vitamin E,
a number of walnut exclusive compounds are present which function as
antioxidants. Antioxidants are really good for your skin and can protect you
from cancer.
For our major discussion, we will
discuss that do walnuts or do they not improve your brain function and comprehension.
The mechanisms behind their benefit is that antioxidants present in walnuts
trap the oxidative stress molecules and deactivate them. The oxidative stress is
one of most important mechanisms of aging and leading cause of age related
deterioration all over the body. Thus, walnuts can protect your brain and other
tissues and improve age related symptoms such as forgetfulness. But a word of
caution is necessary as walnuts are a calorie dense and fat rich diet. Animal
studies show a great association of improved brain function with eating walnuts
or other high antioxidant foods. A study conducted on aged rats in 2008
revealed that walnuts greatly improved their learning capacity and cognitive
functions. Besides the antioxidant activity, the essential fatty acids, that
walnuts have, are used to synthesize a number of neurotransmitters. Walnuts,
according to research, can improve some symptoms of depression, as well.
So Eat Walnuts
and Protect your brains (can’t say for what do you want to save them?).
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