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Nutrition, Vitamins & Supplements for Seniors
New Link Found Between Walnuts and a Healthy Heart
by Ag Research
 Senior citizens looking at walnuts to reduce bad
cholesterol have new reason to consider
July 31, 2006 - Walnuts, already shown in some
studies to reduce "bad" (LDL) cholesterol, may have yet another way of
enhancing cardiovascular health that will interest many senior citizens.
University of California-Davis (UC-Davis)
scientists and their Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
and
University of Padova (Italy) co-investigators have found that
laboratory hamsters that ate feed containing walnuts had significantly
lower levels of a natural chemical called endothelin. The compound
causes inflammation of arteries and growth of sticky depositscalled
plaqueon blood vessels. These conditions contribute to heart disease,
the leading cause of death in the United States.
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July 7, 2006 The benefits of a "Mediterranean
Diet" in reducing the risks of heart attack and cardiovascular disease
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of older people indicates it is easier to stay on these diets than
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In this six-and-one-half-month study of about 100
hamsters, walnuts apparently suppressed heart artery endothelin. Walnuts
had that effect at all levels tested, which were the equivalent of a
human eating from three to eight handfuls of walnuts a day.
For the study, scientists used English walnuts, the
kind sold in supermarkets nationwide, adding them to the hamsters' meals
as a finely ground powder.
Research chemist
Wallace H. Yokoyama, with the ARS
Western Regional Research Center in Albany, Calif., collaborated in
the study, which was led by research nutritionist Paul A. Davis at UC-Davis.
The study, reported earlier this year in the
Journal of Nutrition, builds upon observations by researchers
elsewhere that eating walnuts may affect blood vessels directly.
The California study is the first to demonstrate
this by showing walnuts' ability to suppress artery endothelin in lab
animals. Additional studies are needed to determine if this beneficial
effect occurs in people who eat a moderate amount of walnuts.
Walnuts are a good source of fiber, healthful fatty
acids and minerals, according to ARS. They can be sprinkled on breakfast
cereal, tossed with crisp greens for a lunch or dinner salad, or simply
eaten out of hand as a snack.
>> ARS is the
U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.
>> Original report by By
Marcia Wood
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