The Concept of Nutritional Status and Its Measurement
James M. Rippe in Lifestyle Medicine, 2019
The other claims, B, C, and D, are called “qualified “health claims to indicate that the evidence stating a connection must be qualified because it is less certain than the unqualified claims that are well supported by scientific evidence. Qualified health claims have been approved for a variety of foods and nutrients in which the scientific evidence is less conclusive. These claims that are lower down in the evidence hierarchy, for which there is less scientific agreement about the association are also allowed, but only with additional explanation, qualifications, or disclaimers to avoid misleading consumers. They all require a statement that the claims are not endorsed by the Food and Drug Administration. These claims must also make it clear that the evidence is not strong. For example, the claim for walnuts and coronary heart disease must state: “Supportive but not conclusive research shows that eating 1.5 ounces per day of walnuts, as part of a low saturated fat and low cholesterol diet and not resulting in increased caloric intake, may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.
Moderate Consumption of Nuts and Seeds
John J.B. Anderson, Marilyn C. Sparling in The Mediterranean Way of Eating, 2014
The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid includes nuts and seeds in the large plant food group; MyPlate includes nuts and seeds in the meat and beans group. Nutrient-dense nuts and seeds have good amounts of plant protein and are rich in dietary fiber. Nuts and seeds also contain many important minerals (e.g., copper, magnesium, potassium, and zinc), vitamins (e.g., folate, niacin, vitamin B6, and vitamin E), along with a variety of beneficial phytochemicals. Vitamin E (tocopherol) acts as an antioxidant in addition to performing other significant functions in the body. Almonds have higher amounts of calcium and dietary fiber than most other nuts; pistachios are one of the richest nut sources of potassium. Walnuts have one of the highest and most potent antioxidant contents of any tree nut. Hazelnuts contain the greatest amount of folate as well as the highest amount of proanthocyanin (a polyphenol) of any tree nut. See Table 11.1 for the major micronutrients and phytochemicals contained in some nuts and seeds commonly consumed in most traditional Mediterranean diets.
Food Allergens
Richard F. Lockey, Dennis K. Ledford in Allergens and Allergen Immunotherapy, 2014
Tree nuts cause food allergic reactions in both children and adults. Just as allergic reactions to fish and peanuts typically persist throughout life, so too can reactions to tree nuts. Hazelnut, walnut, cashew, and almond are the most common tree nuts responsible for allergic reactions with less frequent reactions to pecan, chestnut, Brazil nut, pine nut, macadamia nut, pistachio, and coconut [39]. Clark and Ewan [40] reviewed the development, sensitization, and clinical impact of tree nut allergens, suggesting that multiple nut sensitizations and allergies can take place in utero or soon after birth. Their study revealed that a large proportion of children, less than 1 year of age, were already sensitized (nut-specific IgE) to almond, Brazil nut, hazelnut, and walnut. Potential sensitization routes included breast milk, peanut- or soy-based infant formula, trace contamination of nonformula foods, and use of eczema creams containing peanut or soy extract.
Relationship Between Nut Consumption and Metabolic Syndrome: A Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies
Published in Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 2019
Generally speaking, nuts were composed of almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, peanuts, and pistachios (14). Since the components of nuts vary among varieties (14, 27), it is speculated that the biological effect of nuts on MetS may vary with variety. This was also the subject that the present study intended to investigate. However, only several studies specified the varieties of nuts as tree nuts and peanuts, so the various varieties could only be regarded as these two types. Surprisingly, the negative relationship between nut consumption and MetS was only found in tree nuts, but not in peanuts. Two speculations were given, as follows. First, the reliability of these results might be weakened since only a small number of studies were included (4 studies for tree nuts (12, 14, 15, 18) and 2 studies for peanuts (14, 15)). Second, the components in nuts were complicated. Some neglected substance in peanuts might run counter to the biological effect of ellagic acid and L-arginine. Of interest, although the results of subgroup analysis were accompanied by the limited number of studies and high heterogeneity (Table 2), the diagnostic criteria of MetS (NCEP-ATP III), geographical region (North America), sample size (< 5000), and exposure assessment (24-hour dietary recall) may still probably influence the relationship between nut consumption and MetS. As a consequence, more well-designed studies with detailed specifications of nut varieties are needed.
Therapeutic effects of walnut oil on the animal model of multiple sclerosis
Published in Nutritional Neuroscience, 2019
Ali Ganji, Iman Farahani, Mohammad Reza Palizvan, Ali Ghazavi, Mostafa Ejtehadifar, Mohsen Ebrahimimonfared, Mana Shojapour, Ghasem Mosayebi
In this way, walnut is a supplement with anti-inflammatory effects that also improves circulation, inhibits heart attacks, prevents eczema, and stabilizes hormones.13 Although walnut trees originated in Asia, they have also been cultivated in Europe.14 Walnut oil contains unsaturated fatty acids and is highly enriched in omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids, tocopherols, sterols, triterpenes, aliphatic alcohol, proteins, fibre, vitamin E, magnesium, potassium, and copper, all of which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. These features make walnut oil effective in the treatment of many inflammatory and metabolic diseases, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes.15 Furthermore, the impacts of walnut oil in the improvement of rheumatoid arthritis and the reduction of brain inflammation have been confirmed.16,17
Juglone as antihypertensive agent acts through multiple vascular mechanisms
Published in Clinical and Experimental Hypertension, 2020
Taseer Ahmad, Taous Khan, Abdul Jabbar Shah
Walnut tree parts like hull, root, and leaf are reported for vasorelaxant effect (6,7), antihypertensive (8–10) and antioxidant activity (11). Previous studies have not identified the active constituents responsible for any of these activities and could not reach to conclusive mechanism. In the 1850s the juglone (initially termed “nucin”, Latin nux, meaning a nut) was first isolated from the walnut tree (12), and in 1881 the first scientific report on juglone allelopathic effect was published (13). Juglone is a brownish yellow color naphthoquinone and naphthoquinones are included in the sub-class of phenolic compounds (14). Walnut also contains many other phenolic constituents (15). Naphthoquinones improve vascular functions and are also reported for antihypertensive and vasorelaxant activities (16).
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