The best nut to crack for men
What is the best nut for men?
Let’s keep it clean gents! 😉
It’s not peanuts. By the way, peanuts are not nuts – they are a type of bean. They are also likely the least beneficial – the roasted kinds in the pretty blue can are low in nutritional value and high in saturated and trans-fatty acids.
Almonds, pistachios and Brazil nuts are excellent when raw, but not number one.
Give up?
Walnuts.
Here’s why:
- Walnuts are high in protein
- They are high in good, protective fat – Omega-3 fatty acids.
- Walnuts are very high in antioxidant (AO). AO are protective against damaging free-radicals (Arranz et al. 2007).
- Walnuts turn fat into fuel and help with weight loss (really fat loss.) (Tapsell et al. 2009)
- Walnuts improve sperm quality (Robbins et al. 2012)
- They are heart healthy and potentially prostate healthy but does NOT lower PSA levels (Spaccarotella et al. 2008)
- In mice, a component of walnuts called Plumbagin inhibits prostate cancer development (Hafeez et al 2012).
My take on Walnuts:
Although walnuts are high in calories they do not make you fat. To the contrary, they help with the metabolism of fat. Of course, if a little is good does not mean a lot is better – One or two handfuls a day is more than enough.
Personally, I like walnuts mixed with things – not by themselves. I am a sucker for a crunch.
Warm Irish oatmeal with fresh blueberries and crushed raw walnuts is delicious.
My other favorite is Raw cocoa nibs with raw walnuts and a little granola in grass-fed lemon yogurt. Yum.
All these things are found at any health food store like whole foods.
Lastly, and importantly, walnuts and all other nuts are only protective when they are raw. Roasted nuts have negligible benefit and are high in bad fat (trans-fatty and saturated fat.)
Bottom line: Find an enjoyable way of consuming raw walnuts and have a couple of handfuls a day. The evidence of their benefits are mounting.
References:
Arranz, Sara; Pérez-Jiménez, Jara; Saura-Calixto, Fulgencio (2007). “Antioxidant capacity of walnut (Juglans regia L.): Contribution of oil and defatted matter”. European Food Research and Technology 227 (2): 425–31.
Tapsell, L; Batterham, M; Tan, SY; Warensjö, E (2009). “The effect of a calorie controlled diet containing walnuts on substrate oxidation during 8-hours in a room calorimeter”. Journal of the American College of Nutrition 28 (5): 611–7.
Robbins WA, Xun L, Fitzgerald LZ, Esguerra S, Henning SM, Carpenter CL. Walnuts Improve Semen Quality in Men Consuming a Western-Style Diet: Randomized Control Dietary Intervention Trial. Biol Reprod. 2012 Aug 15
Spaccarotella KJ, Kris-Etherton PM, Stone WL, Bagshaw DM, Fishell VK, West SG, Lawrence FR, Hartman TJ. The effect of walnut intake on factors related to prostate and vascular health in older men. Nutr J. 2008 May 2;7:13.
Hafeez BB, Zhong W, Mustafa A, Fischer JW, Witkowsky O, Verma AK.
Plumbagin inhibits prostate cancer development in TRAMP mice via targeting PKC{varepsilon}, Stat3 and neuroendocrine markers. Carcinogenesis. 2012 Sep 13.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/57701/title/Science_%2B_the_Public__Walnuts_slow_prostate_cancer_growth