Prevent Diabetes by Eating Walnuts

A study published on November 23 in BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care showed that you can prevent diabetes by eating walnuts.

The team of scientists from the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center, led by Dr. David Katz discovered that a handful of walnuts per day could decrease the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

An experiment has been conducted on 122 people with ages between 25 and 75 and with a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Among the subjects there were 81 women and 31 men.

Some of the participants, randomly selected, have been given dietary counselling and asked to lower their intake of calories while others were asked to keep their usual eating habits. After that some of the participants from each group have been given to eat 2 ounces of walnuts daily for a period of six months.

After a break of 12 weeks at the end of the 6 months, they switched the groups so that those who had been eating walnuts for the first 6 months will now stop and those who didn’t they now start eating.

All of the subjects have been carefully monitored and their health has been assessed at various times. The researchers were observing their weight, their sizes, their BMI, blood-vessel function, blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels. Other factors have also been taken into account, like the subject’s sex, age, exercise routine, fatty acids and caloric intake etc.

The final results show that the blood-vessel function has improved and the level of glucose tended to increase for the participants who were eating walnuts, no matter if they were or weren’t given any dietary advice. And so did the overall quality of people’s diet.

However, those of the subjects who limited their calories consumption seemed to have lost weight and the circumference of their waist decreased. In exchange, those who did not limit their calories while eating walnuts showed an increased level of body fat.

Walnuts have long been known for their health benefits given by their high levels of essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. They also contain high levels of antioxidants, such as quinone juglone, flavonol morin and tannin tellimagrandin.

Because of their concentration of folate, vitamin e, omega-3 and melatonin, walnuts are said to be good for the brain’s health as well.

Overall, a moderate consumption of walnuts is advised, together with tracking the calories consumption.

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