NutritionFacts.org
Browsing: Home / Videos / Fighting Inflammation in a Nut Shell

Health Topics

Browse through 1,580 different health topics
from A-Z!
  1. #
  2. A
  3. B
  4. C
  5. D
  6. E
  7. F
  8. G
  9. H
  10. I
  11. J
  12. K
  13. L
  14. M
  15. N
  16. O
  17. P
  18. Q
  19. R
  20. S
  21. T
  22. U
  23. V
  24. W
  25. X
  26. Y
  27. Z
Browse All Topics

Fighting Inflammation in a Nut Shell

The equivalent of eating a single walnut half per day appeared to cut the risk of dying from inflammatory disease in about half, whereas fish did not appear to play a protective role. That may be why those eating vegetarian foods have lower levels of inflammation and chronic disease risk.

July 2, 2012 |
GD Star Rating
loading...
FavoriteLoadingAdd to My Playlist

Topics

Supplementary Info

Fighting Inflammation in a Nut Shell, 4.9 out of 5 based on 7 ratings

Sources Cited

Gopinath B, Buyken AE, Flood VM, Empson M, Rochtchina E, Mitchell P. Consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids, fish, and nuts and risk of inflammatory disease mortality. Am J Clin Nutr. 2011 May; 93(5):1073-9.

Watzl B. Anti-inflammatory effects of plant-based foods and of their constituents. Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 2008 Dec; 78(6):293-8.

Paalani M, Lee JW, Haddad E, Tonstad S. Determinants of inflammatory markers in a bi-ethnic population. Ethn Dis. 2011 Spring; 21(2):142-9.

Cundiff DK, Agutter PS, Malone PC, Pezzullo JC. Diet as prophylaxis and treatment for venous thromboembolism? Theor Biol Med Model. 2010 Aug 11; 7:31.

Acknowledgements

Image thanks to Renée S.

Transcript

Do all these anti-inflammatory plant foods actually have an impact on inflammatory disease mortality, though? A recent study out of Australia reported the results of following about 2500 older adults and their diets for 15 years. During that time about 200 died in that time of inflammatory diseases and so the researchers tried to calculate what it was about the diets of the survivors that seemed to help the most, and it was nuts. Half a walnut a day appeared to cut the risk of dying from inflammatory disease in about half. “In the study increasing the consumption of nuts by as little as 1.4 g day—that's about half the weight of a penny—was associated with a reduced 49% risk of dying from chronic inflammation- related diseases.” That’s like one almond a day.
Fish consumption didn’t seem to do a thing. “our data indicate a protective role of nuts, but not fish, against inflammatory disease mortality.”
 This may help explain why most studies done to date on those eating vegetarian or vegan show significantly less inflammation in their bodies than omnivores. There've been a dozen studies so far; 4 showed no significance difference and 8 showed significantly less inflammatory markers in those eating vegetarian. Here's the latest… A vegetarian diet was associated with lower inflammation levels, lower levels of C-reactive protein, which is in accordance with research showing vegetarians have a lower risk of heart disease and an improved antioxidant and inflammatory status compared to non-vegetarians.

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Serena

To help out on the site please email volunteer@nutritionfacts.org

Dr. Michael Greger

Doctor's Note

This is the second of a three-part series on the latest discoveries about fighting inflammation with plant foods. See Friday’s NutritionFacts.org video-of-the-day Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Purple Potatoes for part one. Other recent videos on nuts include Eating Healthy on the Cheap, Harvard’s Meat and Mortality Studies, and Plant-Based Atkins Diet, whereas industrial pollutants present in fish oil supplements may even increase inflammation in the body—see Is Distilled Fish Oil Toxin-Free?. The anti-inflammatory nature of plant foods may explain why those eating plant-based diets have less diabetes (Preventing Macular Degeneration With Diet), fewer allergies (Preventing Allergies in Adulthood), less heart disease (China Study on Sudden Cardiac Death), better moods (Improving Mood Through Diet), and fewer chronic diseases in general (Say No to Drugs by Saying Yes to More Plants). There are over a hundred videos on plant-based diets alone, along with videos on a thousand other topics.

We know plant-based diets can help prevent inflammatory disease, but to see if plant-based diets can be used to treat it, you've got to put it to the test. Stay tuned for tomorrow's NutritionFacts.org video-of-the-day Achieving Remission of Crohn’s Disease.

For more context, check out my associated blog posts: How Does Meat Cause Inflammation?, Treating Crohn’s Disease With Diet,The True Shelf Life of Cooking Oils, Cholesterol Lowering in a Nut Shell, Top 10 Most Popular Videos of the Year, Biblical Daniel Fast Tested, Lead Poisoning Risk From Venison, and Plant-Based Diets for Rheumatoid Arthritis

  • Michael Greger M.D.

    This is the second of a three-part series on the latest discoveries about fighting inflammation with plant foods. See Friday’s NutritionFacts.org video-of-the-day Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Purple Potatoes for part one. Other recent videos on nuts include Eating Healthy on the Cheap, Harvard’s Meat and Mortality Studies, and Plant-Based Atkins Diet, whereas industrial pollutants present in fish oil supplements may even increase inflammation in the body—see Is Distilled Fish Oil Toxin-Free?. The anti-inflammatory nature of plant foods may explain why those eating plant-based diets have less diabetes (Preventing Macular Degeneration With Diet), fewer allergies (Preventing Allergies in Adulthood), less heart disease (China Study on Sudden Cardiac Death), better moods (Improving Mood Through Diet), and fewer chronic diseases in general (Say No to Drugs by Saying Yes to More Plants). There are over a hundred videos on plant-based diets alone, along with videos on a thousand other topics.

    We know plant-based diets can help prevent inflammatory disease, but to see if plant-based diets can be used to treat it, you’ve got to put it to the test. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s NutritionFacts.org video-of-the-day Achieving Remission of Crohn’s Disease.

    • HemoDynamic, M.D.

      Have an anti-inflammatory day, during this  in-flame-atory week.
      Happy Independence Day to all.

      Oh, OK go ahead and make it a anti-inflammatory week as well.  Splurge and eat a half a walnut a day.   ~;-}

      • HemoDynamic, M.D.

        Lunch:  It’s Anti-Inflammatory and Fun!!

  • April Lillie

    What kind of nuts dud they study? Do cashews have the same effects too?

  • Valnaples

    Gosh, I’ve become a nutritionfacts junkie!!! Thanks for another great video!

    • HemoDynamic, M.D.

      Are you saying you’re going ‘Nuts’ over Nf.org ;)

      • Thea

         I’ve gone bananas over this site.  ;-)

        • http://poxacuatl.wordpress.com/ Strix

           Are you saying you’re fruit loopy? :^)

          • Thea

             Gasp!  Fruit loops?  I wouldn’t touch them!  That title is fraud I say.  Fraud!  If there a single bit of fruit in those loopies, I’ll eat my entire organic bannana bunch.

          • HemoDynamic, M.D.

            CooCoo over Coconuts?  ;-}

  • Paulc

     What about the carcinogen, propylene oxide that they sometimes use to pasteurize almonds with? Better stick to organic almonds

  • Slim_Langer

    I’m not from Tennessee and evidently you’re not from Tennessee — but the last cynical swipe strikes me as really petty, and uncalled for. If we’re following a WFPB vegan diet, we’re all human and we’ve all taken some social knocks for it, but it allows us to be on the high road in terms of both moral philosophy/ humane issues AND health science. What call is there for this? It doesn’t help to be negative.  All the best.

  • daisy

    would flaxseed -1 Tablespoon daily provide the same effect as the 1/2 a walnut?

    • Toxins

      No, because flaxseed has much more omega 3 then walnuts as well as potent anticancer lignans that walnuts lack.

  • Greg

    The serum marker used to detect inflammation is commonly c-reactive protein (CRP). The plant based diet appears to effectively reduce inflammation according to CRP. How would one approach reducing IGG sub class 4 (IGG4) blood markers level if CRP is within normal limits?

  • Gauchomatero

    Dr in the video you say one almond a day (or so I heard) and in text half a walnut. Are they equivalent?
    Also, how many nuts/day can we eat without increasing fat too much?
    Thanks

    • Toxins

      English walnuts are indeed healthier due to the fact that they contain much higher levels of omega 3. Almonds contain much more omega 6 which is inflammatory if ones diet lacks omega 3.

      Eating a 1/4 cup of walnuts and two tablespoons of ground flaxseed would be ideal.

©2012 NutritionFacts.org - All Rights Reserved | In partnership with the Jesse & Julie Rasch Foundation
Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Contact Us