A Walnut A Day Could Keep the Cancer Doctor Away
Written by: Dr. Savannah Gleaves, DC for Lebanon Neighbors Magazine
That post-holiday bloat is real! If you’ve been feeling more tired, easily fatigued, brain fog, bloated, struggling with digestive issues, mood swings, or even an increase in allergy symptoms, chances are it’s due to added inflammation in your body. But there’s good news: these symptoms can be reversed!
Inflammation often has a negative context but is an essential biological process for maintaining overall health. However, it must be carefully regulated because when inflammation becomes chronic or goes unchecked, it can lead to various health issues, including autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular conditions, and cancer.
Acute inflammation response by definition happens within the first few hours of an accident, injury, or reaction to something irritating or toxic to your body, but chronic inflammation is less based on time and by definition is based on chemical processes happening within our bodies on a continuous basis. (Fundamentals). To fight chronic inflammation, lifestyle adjustments must be made. Reducing processed foods, alcohol, and added sugars probably isn’t new information to you and is VERY important. In addition to recommending what we should stop eating, I have simplified and included the findings based on research on what we should do in ADDING inflammation fighting foods into your daily diet:
Isoflavones are produced almost exclusively by the members of the Legume or bean family. Quercetin has been shown to have anticancer activity. Flavanols are found in many types of fruit, in green tea, red wine, and chocolate where these compounds have been found to suppress growth of many cell types associated with inflammation. Curcumin has been shown to have benefits against multiple diseases by protecting against inflammatory damage. Lycopene has antioxidant activity and it is responsible for the red color of fruits and vegetables including tomatoes, watermelon, and pink grapefruit. Isothiocyanates impart the characteristic sharp taste of wasabi, mustard, watercress, broccoli, and other cruciferous vegetables which have been found to induce cancer cell death and to increase sensitivity to chemotherapy. Allium vegetables, especially garlic have been linked to reduced risk of multiple cancers, especially prostate cancer. Melatonin is a potent antioxidant produced naturally by humans. Omega 3 fatty acids are commonly found in fish and fish oils. (Hardman)
And then, there are Walnuts!
Walnuts have multiple ingredients that individually (as described above) have been shown to have benefits for inflammation and cancer prevention or suppression of growth of existing cancer. These ingredients in a single serving (1 ounce, 28.5g of walnuts) the highest amount of omega 3 fatty acid of any nut, polyphenols, and proanthocyanidin, and other antioxidants, melatonin, dietary fiber, and more! (Hardman). While you should always consult your physician about best practices for your personalized nutrition, some simple additions to an every day diet could significantly decrease your chronic inflammation symptoms. Besides, getting to add more positive foods to increase immunity sounds way more fun for your daily and weekly meal prep.
Charles N. Serhan, Peter A. Ward, Derek W. Gilroy, editors. Fundamentals of Inflammation. 2010. Cambridge University Press: New York.
Hardman, W. E. (2014). Diet components can suppress inflammation and reduce cancer risk. Nutrition Research and Practice, 8(3), 233. https://doi.org/10.4162/nrp.2014.8.3.233