Walnuts: one of France’s favourite power foods

Did you know that in France they don’t make the distinctions among nuts? They don’t have the variety of nuts we have here – Brazilian nuts, cashews, almonds, Macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, pecans. When you say nuts in France, they’ll assume you are referring to walnuts.

France is the largest producer, exporter and consumer of walnuts in the world. They not only eat this type of nut in its purest form: raw; they’ve also mastered the culinary art of integrating walnuts in all sorts of dishes by adding them to salads; meat; poultry and, of course, desserts.

It’s a well known fact that many American women look at French women with so much envy. I mean who can blame them when la française eats rich foods, pastries, many litres of wine, loads of desserts and smokes freely.

Perhaps the consumption of walnuts not only explains la française’s slender waistline, but also her ability to age so well.

Walnuts are truly an anti-aging power food because they are loaded with healthy nutrients that are essential in keeping your heart at peak performance. Walnuts are also an excellent source of Omega-3. In fact, walnuts contain a particular type of omega-3 called alpha-linolenic-acid (ALA). Here’s a little French secret: walnuts contain more ALA than any other nut. ALA lowers your cholesterol naturally (both your overall score and your LDL/bad cholesterol will drop from eating walnuts). ALA is also anti-inflammatory, which can reduce joint pain and help prevent heart disease. In addition, ALA naturally lowers your blood pressure.

When it comes to cancer-fighting antioxidants, walnuts win again — they contain far higher levels of antioxidants than any other nut.

In Canada, we may have recently gone loco (crazy) for berries and their antioxidant power, but the French have been benefiting from ellagic acid (a form of flavonoid) for centuries. Ellagic acid is a powerful nutrient that is found in many types of berries. It’s been recognized for its ability to inhibit the growth of cancer cells.

By now, you must be thinking: why in the world am I not eating more walnuts? Just in case you were not fully convinced in the anti-aging properties of walnuts, here’s one last bit of news – walnuts are very high in arginine. Arginine helps your blood vessels to dilate, which increases blood flow. This is great for your heart. This last piece of information might be particularly interesting to our male readers because an increase in blood flow will help you get erections (take that Viagra!).