Let me tell you a quick story of how much I love walnuts. During my college years, some of us nutrition students went to a vegetarian conference in California, with some of our professors. At this vegetarian conference there were booths with lots of free things they were giving away. The California Walnuts company had a booth and were giving out 1 oz. bags of walnuts. FREE FOOD!
At these booths they want you to take their products right? So I did. Over and over and over. Over the course of time at the conference I had gathered about 75 of those little bags of walnuts. I was eating and cooking with walnuts the rest of that year. The last day of the conference they were trying to give all the samples away to us. Which is probably why I ended up with so many in the end.
With that being said, walnuts are delicious and are packed with nutrition. Walnuts are severely underrated. They have so many great health benefits to them.
Benefits of Walnuts:
Walnuts are recommended for people with heart disease. They help to reduce cholesterol levels, helps to balance the nervous system, and improves sexual performance.
Heart health:
For those suffering with heart failure, angina, or are at risk for heart attacks, it is recommended to eat walnuts regularly in their diet.
A study in California was conducted on 25,000 Seventh-day Adventists, the study is known as the Adventist Health Study. Adventists are recognized for their healthy lifestyles. Among those 25,000 Adventist their risk of heart attack was lower than the general population. Those in the study who at walnuts 5+ times a week, their risk of heart attack was even lower. Around half of the Adventist in the study at walnuts at least one time per week.
Since walnuts are a good source of B vitamins, and since vitamin B1, thiamin, is needed for the heart to function properly, walnuts are a heart healthy food.
Reduces Cholesterol:
The less cholesterol in the blood, the lower the risk of obstructions in the arteries. Walnuts help to inhibit obstructive buildup of cholesterol in the arteries.
Although walnuts are high in fat, this does not effect the bloods levels in a bad way, but rather a good way. In another study it was found that eating about 2.5 oz a day of walnuts, it helped to lower the bad cholesterol levels, LDL, by about 16%. That was only eating 2.5 oz daily for 2 months.
This is not simply by adding walnuts to the diet, but rather replacing them with other fatty foods, like meats, butters or margarines. That way you're replacing good fats with bad fats.
Balances nervous system:
They are rich in essential fatty acids, which are involved in the metabolism of the neurons. Vitamin B1 is necessary for the function of the nervous system, and walnuts are a good source of vitamin B1.
Improves sexual performance:
Semen is quite rich in prostaglandins, and prostaglandins need linoleum and linolenic acids to generate, which walnuts are a good source of. Eating walnuts has a positive effect on sexual performance, because it helps to increase a man's potency, and they help improve a woman's sexual response.
Manganese is also significant in walnuts, which helps the sperm count to increase, which then helps improve reproduction.
Maple Walnut Scones
Recipe:
2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¾ cup Silk Unsweetened Almond
½ cup maple syrup
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ cup walnuts, chopped
Glaze:
1 Tbsp vegan butter, room temperature
1 Tbsp maple syrup
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375°F. In a bowl stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until it’s well combined. Add to it, soy milk, maple syrup and vanilla extract, stirring only as much as you need to to make sure it is combined well. Fold in chopped walnuts.
Form dough into a round ball and flatten it out into a circle, that is about 1/2 tall. Cut the dough into pizza shapes, making between 8-12 scones. Place the scones on a baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper. Bake for 12 minutes, then add the glaze to the top of the scones, and continue to bake for about 2-3 more minutes, until the scones have a slight golden color.
Allow scones to cool. They will last for about 5-7 days in the refrigerator in a tupperware or zip lock bag.
