Celebrate A Healthy Heart This World Heart Day, With Walnuts

Every year, on September 29, the world comes together to acknowledge the importance of heart health. Raising public awareness around cardiovascular diseases and their prevention is now more significant than ever. So, let’s all come together today to unite against the risk of cardiovascular diseases and understand the importance of a healthy heart.

Emphasizing on the importance of making heart healthy choices, Dr Sameer Gupta, Director of the Cath Lab for the Metro Group of Hospitals & Co-Founder of Voice of Health said, “This World Heart Day is as good a time as any to make some promises. For instance, you could promise to steer clear of a sedentary lifestyle by exercising more. You can also promise to say no to smoking or help those who want to get out of this habit, do so by getting them professional help. Or, you could promise to start cooking and eating healthy meals by making good use of heart-healthy1 ingredients such as walnuts in your diet. No promise made is too small, especially when it comes to matters of the heart.”

Since 1993, published research has been exploring how eating walnuts affect various factors related to heart health such as cholesterol, blood pressure, inflammation, and blood vessel function.¹ Research has shown that swapping out saturated fats (found in animal-based foods like butter, cream, and meat) with unsaturated fats, especially polyunsaturated fats (found in walnuts and fish), has a positive impact on heart health.²Research has also explored how eating walnuts may promote favorable changes in the gut that may also be associated with heart health benefits, specifically for blood pressure and cholesterol.³

So, you see? Including California walnuts in your diet is a healthy choice that you can make, starting today. As versatile as they are nutritious, walnuts can be consumed in plenty of different ways. Eating a handful of walnuts as a snack not only keeps you full between meals, but also provides you with your share of plant-based protein (4g), fiber (2g), and good fats (2.5g omega-3 ALA). You can also include walnuts as meat substitutes, in desserts, and to add crunch to your regular bowl of salad. Trust us – when it comes to walnuts, the possibilities are truly endless!

So, this World Heart Day pledge to take steps towards a heart-healthy lifestyle with the added crunch of California walnuts.

[1]Supportive but not conclusive research shows that eating 1.5 ounces of walnuts per day, as part of a low saturated fat and low cholesterol diet and not resulting in increased caloric intake, may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. (FDA) One ounce of walnuts offers 18g of total fat, 2.5g of monounsaturated fat, 13g of polyunsaturated fat including 2.5g of alpha-linolenic acid – the plant-based omega-3.

²Hu/Harvard/Heart Health/Oct 06 2015 (citation noted in Health Research section)

³Tindall AM, McLimans CJ, Petersen KS, et al. Walnuts and Vegetable Oils Containing Oleic Acid Differentially Affect the Gut Microbiota and Associations with Cardiovascular Risk Factors: Follow-up of a Randomized, Controlled, Feeding Trial in Adults at Risk for Cardiovascular Disease. J Nutr. 2020;150(4):806-817. doi: 10.1093/jn/nxz289.