Nutrition in the News: A Walnut a Day Can Keep Stress at Bay!
PIN IT!Eat these….
to avoid this…
Who knew one little nut was so powerful?
As a person who spends about 99.5% of her day resembling the woman above, I’m always on the lookout for healthy and natural ways to reduce my stress (no Rx necessary!). I’ve tried them all and I’m still functioning at about a 5 million percent stress level so I’m willing to take any tip I can get!
According to an article published in the October 7th edition of the LA Times, researchers found that including walnuts (who are high in omega-3 fatty acids) and walnut oil into one’s diet lowered their resting blood pressure and their blood pressure responses to higher levels of stress. What the study aimed at finding was that a dietary change could potentially help our bodies reduce stress, without the need for a prescription or shrink!
The experimental details of the study, which can be found here, put people on three different diets, one without nuts, one with 1.3 ounces of walnuts and one that included walnut and flax seed oil. The results found that the average diastolic blood pressure was significantly less in the people who had walnuts or walnut oil in their diets.
By adding just 1.3 ounces (or 1/3 cup) of walnuts into your daily diet, you can significantly reduce your blood pressure and can increase your body’s ability to handle stress! If you can’t eat walnuts plain and dry, try the very easy and tasty dessert idea below! This time, you can tell your friends with scientific backing that eating dessert is lowing your stress!
Maple Glazed Walnuts
[Via]
Ingredients
- 2 cups walnut halves
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Preperation
- Preheat a dry skillet over a medium-high heat.
- Add the walnuts, maple syrup and salt.
- Cook, stirring frequently, until syrup is caramelized and nuts are toasted, about 3 minutes. Let cool.
Nutritional Information: 265 calories, 19 grams of fat, 5 grams of protein and 2 grams of fiber.
