A new study published in the Journal of Nutrition found that consuming 1-2 servings of walnuts per week (1/4 cup per serving) was associated with reduced risk of developing impairments in physical function, which helps enable older people to maintain independence throughout the ageing process.
This paper emphasised that overall diet quality, rather than individual foods, may have a greater impact on reducing risk of physical function impairments. Specifically, diet quality traits most associated with reduced rates of incident physical impairment were higher intake of fruits and vegetables; lower intake of sugar-sweetened beverages, Trans fat, and sodium; and moderate alcohol intake.
Among food components, the strongest relations were found for increased intakes of oranges, orange juice, apples, pears, romaine or leaf lettuce, and walnuts.
Commenting on the study, Dr. Francine Grodstein, ScD, professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School said, “There’s a lot of research that looks at specific health conditions in ageing, such as diabetes and heart disease, but less attention to research on quality of life and ability to maintain independence with ageing.
The simple message from this study is that eating an overall healthy diet, including certain foods, such as walnuts and other whole foods, may help people with the ability to do key everyday tasks as they age, like carrying groceries or dressing themselves.”
Dr Grodstein further added, “These results add to the large body of evidence that outline many benefits of a healthy diet for women. Additional research is needed to better understand how diet and lifestyle choices can help maintain our health and well-being as we age”.
Nutritionist and health consultant Naini Setalvad said, “There are numerous possible active properties in walnuts that may be contributing factors in providing health benefits. Walnuts are unique among nuts in that they are primarily composed of polyunsaturated fat (13 grams per ounce), which includes alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), the plant-based omega-3 fatty acid.”
Adding, “They are the only nut to contain a significant amount of ALA with 2.5 grams per one ounce serving. Nearly two decades of research, at renowned universities worldwide have shown the effect of walnuts in such areas as heart health, diabetes, cancer, cognition, fertility, metabolic syndrome and weight management.”
The researchers looked at data from 54,762 women in the Nurses’ Health Study, which tracked women for over 30 years. Between 1992 and 2008, the women were asked questions about their physical function, including their ability to perform basic activities of daily living. This new paper prospectively examined the association between the dietary habits of the participants and subsequent impairment in physical function.
Diet was assessed using the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI-2010), a measure of diet quality that incorporates foods and nutrients predictive of chronic disease risk based on scientific evidence.
This research was supported in part by the California Walnut Commission (CWC). The CWC has supported health-related research on walnuts for more than 25 years. While the CWC does provide funds and/or walnuts for various projects, the actual studies are conducted independently by researchers who design the experiments, interpret the results and write the manuscripts.
The California Walnut Commission, established in 1987, is funded by mandatory assessments of the growers. The commission is an agency of the State of California that works in concurrence with the Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). The CWC is mainly involved in health research and export market development activities.
ANI