WALNUTS BLOOD PRESSURE

Walnuts and blood pressure

The researchers found that including walnuts and walnut oil in the diet lowered both resting blood pressure and blood pressure responses to stress in the laboratory. Participants had to give a speech or placed their feet in cold water to stress their bodies. Interestingly, adding flax seed oil to the walnut diet did not further lower their blood pressure.

"This is the first study to show that walnuts and walnut oil reduce blood pressure during stress," stated Prof. West. "This is important because we can't avoid many stressors in daily life. This study shows that a simple dietary change - eating walnuts - will help us respond better to stress."

Walnuts and flax seed - affect on arteries

A subset of the participants also underwent a Doppler ultrasound scan in order to measure the effect on our arteries. Adding flax oil to the walnut diet significantly improved this test of vascular health.

ARTHRITIS

Important for arthritis sufferers the flax plus walnuts diet also lowered C reactive protein, an arthritis marker, indicating an antiinflammatory effect. According to Professor West, that could also reduce risk of heart and blood vessel disease.

GOLD STANDARD RESEARCH METHODS

The researchers used a powerful, accepted design for their research. Tests were conducted at the end of each six week diet, and each person consumed each of the three diets in a random order, with a one week break in between. The diets used were:

1. an average American diet - without nuts - that reflects what the typical person in the U.S. consumes each day. (peanuts are not really nuts).

2. The 2nd diet included 1.3 ounces of walnuts (9 walnuts) and 1 TBSP of walnut oil in place of some of the fat and protein in the average American diet.

3. The 3rd diet included walnuts, walnut oil and 1.5 TBSP of flaxseed oil. The three diets were matched for calories and were specifically designed for each participant so that no overall weight-loss or -gain occurred. The walnuts, walnut oil, and flax oil were either mixed into the food in such offerings as muffins or salad dressing or eaten as a snack.

After each diet, the participants underwent two stress tests. In the first test, they received a topic; and they were given two minutes to prepare a three minute speech, which they had to present whilst being videoed. For the second stress they submerged one foot in ice-cold water. Throughout the tests they measured the participants' BP.

Results showed that average diastolic blood pressure - the bottom number in 120/80 which is the pressure in the arteries when the heart is resting - was markedly reduced during the periods when they were eating diets containing walnuts and walnut oil.

Walnuts are a rich source of fibre, anti-oxidants, and unsaturated fatty acids, particularly alpha-linolenic-acid, an omega 3 fatty acid. It's thought that some of these compounds may be responsible for the beneficial effect of walnuts on blood pressure. Flax seed oil (aka linseed oil) is also rich in omega 3 fatty acids, but this study did not test whether flax oil alone could reduce the response of the heart and blood vessels to stress.

This research also suggests that blood pressure is more stable when a person is exposed to the stresses of daily life." FOODS THAT LOWER CHOLESTEROL ...

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