We are continually being told how certain foods are good for us to eat, but unfortunately in most instances without any real context or information as to why.
Nuts!! They’re good for us apparently.
Well ok, but why, and which ones do what?
Muhdo Health’s objective in many ways is to help simplify science and health advice, so that it becomes easier for average person to understand and translate.
Walnuts contain something called A-linolenic Acid (ALA) which is an essential Omega 3 fatty acid.
ALA will do various things within the body and have a whole variety of health benefits, so we will narrow it down slightly and highlight an area that we have discovered with regards to weight management.
Walnuts and Fat Metabolism
While lifestyle choices around diet and exercise play the major role in weight maintenance, our genes 🧬 also have a very significant part to play.
ALA can help to induce a group of genes called PPARy, which are involved with energy storage and energy metabolism required for normal cellular and bodily functioning. In addition, the PPARs are involved in:
· Adipogenesis (Fat tissue growth)
· Osteogenesis (Bone tissue growth)
· Anti-Inflammatory pathways
· Oxidative stress mechanisms
These genes interact and play a critical role in gene and environment interaction with the energy metabolism process with environmental factors such as nutrition, exercise, medications, and other lifestyle choices.
An example of this is when excess energy is available from people overeating, PPARy promotes fat synthesis and storage in adipose (fat) tissue.
Most genes are the same in all of us, but there will be differences in less than one percent of them, which is what makes us unique.
Genes 🧬 are only the first step in understanding your biology as they encode for certain predispositions, such as how well you absorb and use Omega-3’s.
Hopefully this has helped to simply some of the health benefits that Walnuts offers, which might be useful to some of you that have taken the time to read this, thank you.