Walnuts may be good for the intestines and heart health

February 27, 2020 / BIOON / -- walnuts may not only be a delicious snack, they may also promote the growth of beneficial intestinal bacteria New research suggests that these "beneficial" bacteria may be responsible for the heart health benefits of walnuts In a randomized controlled trial, researchers found that eating walnuts every day as part of a healthy diet was associated with an increase in certain bacteria that contribute to health In addition, these changes of intestinal bacteria are related to the improvement of some risk factors of heart disease Kristina Petersen, an assistant research professor at Penn State University, said the study, recently published in the Journal of nutrition, suggested that walnuts could be a snack good for the heart and internal organs Photo source: https://cn.bing.com Petersen said: "replacing your regular snacks with walnuts - especially those that are unhealthy - is a small change in your diet There is a lot of evidence that small improvements in diet are good for health As part of a healthy diet, eating two to three ounces of walnuts a day may be a good way to improve gut health and reduce the risk of heart disease "Previous studies have shown that walnuts, combined with a low saturated fat diet, may be good for heart health For example, previous studies have shown that eating a walnut a day can lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure According to the researchers, other studies have found that changes in gastrointestinal bacteria (also known as intestinal microbiota) may help explain the cardiovascular benefits of walnuts "People do a lot of work on gut health and how it affects overall health," said Penny Kris Etherton, a leading professor of nutrition at Pennsylvania State University So, in addition to studying factors such as lipids and lipoproteins, we also want to study intestinal health We also want to see if the effect of eating walnuts on intestinal health is related to the improvement of risk factors for heart disease "In this study, the researchers recruited 42 overweight or obese participants between the ages of 30 and 65 Before the study began, participants were asked to eat an average of two weeks of American food After this "break in" diet, participants were randomly assigned to one of three study diets, all of which contained less saturated fat than the break in diet These diets include a diet with full walnuts, an equal amount of alpha linolenic acid (ALA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids, but no walnuts, and an equal amount of ALA with part of oleic acid (another fatty acid) and no walnuts In all three diets, walnut or vegetable oil replaced saturated fat, and all participants followed one diet for six weeks and rested during the diet To analyze bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract, fecal samples were collected 72 hours before participants completed the running diet and three study diet cycles "The walnut diet is rich in a lot of gut bacteria that used to be thought to be good for health," Petersen said One of them is Roseburia, which is related to the protection of intestinal mucosa We also found the enrichment of eubacteria eligens and butyricococcus "The researchers also found a significant association between changes in gut bacteria and risk factors for heart disease after eating walnuts Eucharacteria eligens are negatively correlated with the changes of several different blood pressure measurements, which indicates that more eucharacteria eligens are more correlated with the reduction of these risk factors Photo source: https://cn.bing.com in addition, a large number of trichospirillaceae are related to the reduction of blood pressure, total cholesterol and non HDL cholesterol In the other two diets, there was no significant correlation between enriched bacteria and heart disease risk factors Regina lamendella, associate professor of biology at Juniata college, said the findings are an example of how people feed gut microbes in a positive way "Foods like walnuts provide a variety of nutrients for our gut flora, such as fatty acids, fiber and bioactive compounds," lamendella said In turn, it can help our bodies produce beneficial metabolites and other products "Kris Etherton added that future research could continue to investigate how walnuts affect microbiome and other health elements "This finding further confirms what we know about the health benefits of walnuts, and this time we will learn more about the impact of walnuts on gut health," Kris Etherton said This study provides us with clues that nuts may change gut health, and now we are interested in expanding this research to see how it affects blood sugar levels (bio Com) reference materials: [1] Alyssa m Tindall et al Replacing saturated faults with unsaturated faults from walls or vegetable oils lower atherogenic lipoprotein classes without increasing lipoprotein (a), the Journal of nutrition (2019) Doi: 10.1093/jn/nxz313 [2] walls may be good for the got and help promote heart Health