Since walnuts have heart health benefits, researchers from Texas Tech University and Juniata College conducted a study to analyze what impact they have on the gut microbiome.
The researchers were curious whether it is possible that the heart benefits derived from walnuts start in the gut.
The researchers assigned diets to three groups of people, including one group that ate whole walnuts, and then tested biological samples from each participant.
Their findings showed that people who consumed the diet with walnuts had higher levels of the amino acid L-****arginine in their guts.
Since people with lower levels of ****arginine are at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease, this finding showed that it might be possible to improve heart health by making dietary changes that affect the gut.
While scientists know that certain foods improve heart health, there are many questions remaining, such as how this happens, and what other foods exist that may lower cardiovascular risk.
Researchers from Texas Tech University in Lubbock and Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA, wanted to learn more about how walnuts may benefit the heart, and whether that starts in the gut.
They conducted their study by analyzing the genetic expression of microbes in participants who either did or did not consume a diet with walnuts.
The study results were presented at Discover DMB, which is the annual meeting of the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and PreventionTrusted Source (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of death in adults in the United States. Nearly 700,000 people die from heart disease each year.
Many factors influence heart health, and an important one is nutrition. People who follow diets that are high in fat and cholesterol are more likely to develop conditions that can eventually lead to heart disease.
To help reduce the risk of heart disease, people can choose diets that are low in fat, feature lean meats, and are low in sugar and salt. Avoiding processed foods or foods high in trans fats can help as well.
Some heart-healthy foods the National Institutes of HealthTrusted Source (NIH) recommend people consume include:
vegetables
fruits
whole grains
fish and lean meats
nuts.
A healthy gut microbiome is imperative to good health. The gut microbiota is a group of microorganisms that colonize the gastrointestinal tract. Some estimates suggest that there are 1,013 bacteria in the human gastrointestinal tract, about as many as human cells in the body.
Sometimes illness or lifestyle choices can cause changes to the gut microbiome and make bad bacteria outweigh good bacteria.
The NIHTrusted Source note that “[t]he gut microbiome plays an important role in human health and influences the development of chronic diseases ranging from metabolic disease to gastrointestinal disorders and colorectal cancer.”
There are ways to improve gut health, such as taking probiotic supplements to rebalance the gut microbiome. Foods people can eat to help with this include yogurt, pickled vegetables, and kombucha tea.
The researchers who conducted the current study were interested in how walnuts impact gut health and improve heart health.
Walnuts have a higher alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) content, which is significant because ALA may impact neurological and cardiovascular health.
The researchers analyzed data from 42 participants for this study. The participants all had an elevated risk for cardiovascular disease.
All participants initially followed a traditional Western diet for 2 weeks. According to the researchers, their nutritional breakdown included a 50% carbohydrate intake, 16% protein, and 34% fats.
The scientists took stool samples to analyze the participants’ gut microbiomes, and then placed the participants in one of three groups.
The first group, which was called the “walnut diet group”, consisted of participants who ate 57–99 grams (g.) of walnuts per day — roughly 1 cup of walnuts.
The second group consumed the same amounts of omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid present in walnuts without eating walnuts. This was the “matched walnut control diet.
The third group was assigned to supplement ALA with oleic acid — while not eating walnuts — and was referred to as the “oleic acid replaces ALA in diet without walnuts” group.
At the end of the 6-week diet periods, the researchers collected stool samples from the participants and analyzed the samples with metatranscriptomics “to investigate the gut microbiota composition and functionality.”
The researchers were curious whether it is possible that the heart benefits derived from walnuts start in the gut.
The researchers assigned diets to three groups of people, including one group that ate whole walnuts, and then tested biological samples from each participant.
Their findings showed that people who consumed the diet with walnuts had higher levels of the amino acid L-****arginine in their guts.
Since people with lower levels of ****arginine are at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease, this finding showed that it might be possible to improve heart health by making dietary changes that affect the gut.
While scientists know that certain foods improve heart health, there are many questions remaining, such as how this happens, and what other foods exist that may lower cardiovascular risk.
Researchers from Texas Tech University in Lubbock and Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA, wanted to learn more about how walnuts may benefit the heart, and whether that starts in the gut.
They conducted their study by analyzing the genetic expression of microbes in participants who either did or did not consume a diet with walnuts.
The study results were presented at Discover DMB, which is the annual meeting of the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and PreventionTrusted Source (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of death in adults in the United States. Nearly 700,000 people die from heart disease each year.
Many factors influence heart health, and an important one is nutrition. People who follow diets that are high in fat and cholesterol are more likely to develop conditions that can eventually lead to heart disease.
To help reduce the risk of heart disease, people can choose diets that are low in fat, feature lean meats, and are low in sugar and salt. Avoiding processed foods or foods high in trans fats can help as well.
Some heart-healthy foods the National Institutes of HealthTrusted Source (NIH) recommend people consume include:
vegetables
fruits
whole grains
fish and lean meats
nuts.
A healthy gut microbiome is imperative to good health. The gut microbiota is a group of microorganisms that colonize the gastrointestinal tract. Some estimates suggest that there are 1,013 bacteria in the human gastrointestinal tract, about as many as human cells in the body.
Sometimes illness or lifestyle choices can cause changes to the gut microbiome and make bad bacteria outweigh good bacteria.
The NIHTrusted Source note that “[t]he gut microbiome plays an important role in human health and influences the development of chronic diseases ranging from metabolic disease to gastrointestinal disorders and colorectal cancer.”
There are ways to improve gut health, such as taking probiotic supplements to rebalance the gut microbiome. Foods people can eat to help with this include yogurt, pickled vegetables, and kombucha tea.
The researchers who conducted the current study were interested in how walnuts impact gut health and improve heart health.
Walnuts have a higher alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) content, which is significant because ALA may impact neurological and cardiovascular health.
The researchers analyzed data from 42 participants for this study. The participants all had an elevated risk for cardiovascular disease.
All participants initially followed a traditional Western diet for 2 weeks. According to the researchers, their nutritional breakdown included a 50% carbohydrate intake, 16% protein, and 34% fats.
The scientists took stool samples to analyze the participants’ gut microbiomes, and then placed the participants in one of three groups.
The first group, which was called the “walnut diet group”, consisted of participants who ate 57–99 grams (g.) of walnuts per day — roughly 1 cup of walnuts.
The second group consumed the same amounts of omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid present in walnuts without eating walnuts. This was the “matched walnut control diet.
The third group was assigned to supplement ALA with oleic acid — while not eating walnuts — and was referred to as the “oleic acid replaces ALA in diet without walnuts” group.
At the end of the 6-week diet periods, the researchers collected stool samples from the participants and analyzed the samples with metatranscriptomics “to investigate the gut microbiota composition and functionality.”
shahida TKO
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