It has been a well known incontrovertible fact that consuming nuts, especially walnuts wealthy in Omega 3 fatty acids, can profit heart health. A recent study has determined how eating walnuts changes the gut microbe to assist promote heart health.

In a study presented on the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, researchers from Texas Tech University and Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, revealed how eating walnuts may profit the guts.

“Research has shown that walnuts could have heart-healthy advantages like lowering levels of cholesterol and blood pressure.This motivated us to have a look at how walnuts benefited the gut microbiome and whether those effects led to the potential useful effects. Our findings represent a recent mechanism through which walnuts may lower heart problems risk,” Mansi Chandra, who presented the study, said.

For the study, 35 participants with a high risk of heart problems were chosen. The researchers used three varieties of weight-reduction plan on the participants: one which has whole walnuts, one without walnuts but with the omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and polyunsaturated fatty acid, and the third one without walnuts but with oleic acid for a similar amount of ALA present in walnuts.

The participants followed each weight-reduction plan for six weeks, with a break in between. The researchers collected fecal samples shortly before they accomplished a weight-reduction plan and evaluated them using metatranscriptomics, the study of gene expressions of gut microbes, to know the changes with each weight-reduction plan.

At the tip of the study, participants on the walnut weight-reduction plan had higher levels of Gordonibacter bacteria and amino acid L-homoarginine of their guts. 

“This bacterium converts the plant polyphenols ellagitannins and ellagic acid into metabolites that allow them to be absorbed by the body. Participants consuming the walnut weight-reduction plan also showed higher levels of expression for several genes which are involved in vital metabolic and biosynthetic pathways, including ones that increase the body’s production of the amino acid L-homoarginine,” the study reveals.

More study is required to substantiate these observations because it was conducted amongst a small group of people that were in danger for heart disease. Further research will help to know how it really works for larger groups of healthy people.

Meanwhile, the study shows how dietary interventions based on walnuts reduce the chance for heart problems.”Since loads of individuals are allergic to nuts, these findings also suggest that other food supplements that boost the endogenous production of homoarginine might also be helpful,” Chandra said.