Walnuts for heart health: Effect on the gut may be keyShare on Pinterest

Since walnuts have heart health benefits, researchers from Texas Tech University and Juniata College conducted a study to analyze what impact they have on the gut microbiome.

• The researchers were curious whether it is possible that the heart benefits derived from walnuts start in the gut.

• The researchers assigned diets to three groups of people, including one group that ate whole walnuts, and then tested biological samples from each participant.

• Their findings showed that people who consumed the diet with walnuts had higher levels of the amino acid L-homoarginine in their guts.

• Since people with lower levels of homoarginine are at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease, this finding showed that it might be possible to improve heart health by making dietary changes that affect the gut.

While scientists know that certain foods improve heart health, there are many questions remaining, such as how this happens, and what other foods exist that may lower cardiovascular risk.

Researchers from Texas Tech University in Lubbock and Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA, wanted to learn more about how walnuts may benefit the heart, and whether that starts in the gut.

They conducted their study by analyzing the genetic expression of microbes in participants who either did or did not consume a diet with walnuts.

The study results were presented at Discover DMB, which is the annual meeting of the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Heart health: Quick facts 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and PreventionTrusted Source (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of death in adults in the United States. Nearly 700,000 people die from heart disease each year.

Many factors influence heart health, and an important one is nutrition. People who follow diets that are high in fat and cholesterol are more likely to develop conditions that can eventually lead to heart disease.

To help reduce the risk of heart disease, people can choose diets that are low in fat, feature lean meats, and are low in sugar and salt. Avoiding processed foods or foods high in trans fats can help as well.

Some heart-healthy foods the National Institutes of HealthTrusted Source (NIH) recommend people consume include:

• vegetables

• fruits

• whole grains

• fish and lean meats

• nuts.

Recent research shows that walnuts, in particular, can improve a person’s cardiovascular disease risk profile.