A handful of walnuts might be a simple way to improve your diet, but can it actually reduce inflammation? New research suggests that eating walnuts regularly may make your overall diet less likely to promote inflammation, although there's an important distinction between what you eat and how your body responds.
The study, published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, followed 319 older adults for two years. Those who ate walnuts every day had slightly more favorable scores on a measure of how their diets might influence inflammation compared with those who avoided walnuts.
Researchers at Loma Linda University assigned half the participants to eat 1 to 2 ounces of walnuts daily, roughly one or two handfuls. The others avoided walnuts and limited other nuts. Both groups continued eating their usual diets without making other required changes.
To compare the groups, researchers used a scoring system that estimates the inflammatory potential of a diet based on the foods and nutrients people consume. Walnuts contain nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids and magnesium that can contribute to a better score.
But here's the important distinction: The researchers weren't measuring inflammation in the participants' bodies. They were measuring how their diets scored based on what they ate.
“The important message is that incorporating walnuts into the diet was associated with a shift toward a less inflammatory dietary pattern,” said Sujatha Rajaram, a professor at Loma Linda University and the study's senior investigator.
Previous research from the same larger trial found improvements in several blood markers of inflammation among people who ate walnuts regularly. That offers additional evidence of potential benefits, but changes in these markers don't necessarily translate into a lower risk of disease.
The latest findings support walnuts as one way to improve the nutritional quality of a diet, whether enjoyed as a snack or added to everyday meals. What they don't establish is that eating a handful each day will reduce inflammation or prevent health problems.
The study was funded by the California Walnut Commission. Several researchers reported financial relationships with the commission, and one disclosed an interest in a company holding rights to a version of the dietary scoring system used in the study. The commission had no reported role in the research or publication decisions.