Walnuts... the healthiest nut?

Lately the hubby and I have been eating a lot of walnuts, they taste so good just poppin' them by themselves or chopped up and sprinkled on a hot bowl of oatmeal! So I decided to do a little research into any possible health benefits to eating these little nuts and they appear to be quite the powerhouse! 

Have you ever thought that a walnut kind of looks like a little brain? I mean it has a left and right hemisphere, it has all the little wrinkles and even looks like it has tiny blood vessels! Weird!   Cool too because it is apparently a great brain food! 

Walnuts contain high amounts of healthy Omega-3 ALA (Alpha-Linolenic Acid) fatty acids, which is converted into an essential building block (DHA) for our brains by the liver; incredibly important in newborn brains for development, but also important in adult brains for maintenance of our brain functions! It has been linked to people having lower cases of depression, lower risk of cognitive decline in later years, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, arthritis and even some types of cancers*!

ALA also helps with fighting inflammation, which is possibly why it has been linked to reduced risks for inflammation illnesses such as arthritis! 

And for you ladies who might hate that time of the month, walnuts contain about 50% of your daily recommended amount of manganese and about 11% of your RDA of magnesium, both of which in have been linked to lowered PMS symptoms**!

Walnuts are a great source for added protein as well, with  every 100g of walnuts containing 10-15g of protein! 

Helpful tip, according to Harvard Health you need .36g of protein per pound you weigh, or .8g per kilo. So say you weigh 125 pounds, you multiply 125x.36, which comes out to 45grams. A nice way to make sure you are getting your daily dose of protein, but remember protein can be found in many places, not just the obvious ones like meat, dairy, eggs and nuts, but also in broccoli, peas, and quinoa among many, many others! 

*https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10479465

** https://www.prevention.com/health/a20431787/walnuts-can-improve-your-memory/