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The SuperFoods Walnuts How Nuts Help Your Heart
The SuperFoods Walnuts How Nuts Help Your Heart
How Nuts Help Your Heart |
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 Table of Contents One of the main contributors to heart health in nuts, particularly in walnuts, is the omega-3 fatty acids. This particular component of fat works in various ways to help guarantee a healthy heart and circulatory system. Like aspirin, omega-3s “thin” the blood, helping it to flow freely and preventing clots from forming and adhering to the vessel walls and also act as an anti-inflammatory, preventing the blood vessels from becoming inflamed—a condition that reduces blood flow. Walnuts are also rich in arginine, which is an essential amino acid. Arginine helps to keep the inside of the blood vessels smooth while it also promotes the flexibility of the vessels, thus increasing blood flow, reducing blood pressure, and thereby alleviating hypertension. It’s interesting to note that while the beneficial fatty acid composition of nuts would account for some of their positive effects on blood lipids, and thus their benefits to heart health, that doesn’t explain the whole picture. In other words, in addition to the known health-promoting factors in nuts, including the omega-3s, the B vitamins, magnesium, polyphenols, potassium, and vitamin E, there are other elements, which we’ve yet to identify, that work to lower cholesterol levels and promote heart health. A study of U.S. male physicians found an inverse association between nut consumption and sudden cardiac death or heart attack. |
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