Walnuts are perhaps the most famous tree nuts of all and have been named the “healthiest of all nuts.” They are rich in plant-based fats and are a good source of B vitamins and many minerals. Although nuts are one of the easiest foods to eat, they are also a powerful weapon against chronic disease. Nuts can be eaten by the handful as a snack or in salads, soups, vegetable dishes, baked goods, or smoothies.

Due to their exceptionally high amounts of healthy fats and powerful plant chemicals, recent studies are publishing evidence that walnuts can reduce brain stress, lower cholesterol, increase fertility in men, reduce inflammation, lower the risk of diabetes, strengthen the immune system and help with insomnia due to the natural melatonin they contain.

A recent study in the journal “Food and Function” supports the claim that walnuts are the healthiest of all nuts. The researchers tested nine types of raw and roasted nuts and found that the nuts contained the highest levels and quality of antioxidants. An “antioxidant” is a substance in food or vitamins that neutralizes the harmful effects of oxygen in the body. These “oxidative” effects contribute to aging and disease.

English walnuts offer powerful brain health benefits. A study called “Role of Walnuts in Maintaining Brain Health with Age” was published in the Journal of Nutrition. The researchers wrote that walnuts not only reduce the inflammatory load in brain cells, but also improve communication and connection between the brain cells themselves, helping to maintain good brain health with increasing age.

For a healthy heart and long life, walnuts have been shown to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and also extend overall life expectancy. Walnuts contain the amino acid l-arginine, which offers protective benefits for the heart. A quarter cup of walnuts contains about 1,130 milligrams of l-arginine. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reviewed 13 studies on the heart and found that people who ate walnuts benefited from a significant decrease in total cholesterol and had great benefits in the amount of antioxidants available to them.

Walnuts have been shown to improve fertility and reproductive health. The medical journal “Reproductive Biology” conducted a study of 117 healthy men and found that eating about half a cup of walnuts every day produced an increase in healthy fats in the bloodstream and greatly improved the health and vitality of the sperm.

Walnuts can be a good sleep-inducing food. Russel Reiter, Ph.D., a professor of cell biology at the University of Texas says, “Relatively few foods have been examined for their melatonin content. Our studies show that walnuts contain melatonin, which is absorbed when eaten and improves our ability to resist oxidative stress caused by toxic molecules.”

Eating nuts regularly can be a delicious and easy way to prevent disease and take advantage of their many health benefits.