Continued from our Retreat & Renew Daily Tip.

Nuts about Nuts!

All nuts have great nutritional and star attributes, but walnuts with their plant omega-3 fats, melatonin, fiber, vitamins/minerals and polyphenols really stand out. In fact, Dr. Vinson, lead researcher reports that "a handful of walnuts has almost twice the antioxidant content as an equivalent amount of any other commonly consumed nut."

When I invented the word polyphenomenal years ago to express my excitement about the emerging research on a variety of powerhouse foods that contain this important category of health-promoting compounds, I knew much of the story on polyphenols was still to be written. When it comes to nuts, walnuts have truly earned this distinction.

Here are new ways (and reminders) on how to add walnuts to your day:

Add walnuts to your morning oatmeal or Greek yogurt.

Make a homemade trail mix with dried cherries, dark chocolate chips and walnuts.

Take a ‘virtual trip’ to the Mediterranean at snack time by slicing into some large dates and stuffing each with a walnut half.

Sprinkle walnuts onto your salad at lunch time.

Bake walnuts into your breads and muffins.

Mix chopped walnuts into grain dishes like quinoa, wheat berries or couscous.

Make pesto with half walnuts/half pine nuts.

Add chopped walnuts into curried chicken salad made with Greek yogurt and grapes.

Stir-fry walnuts with snap peas and shrimp.

Reference: Vinson, JA. Food & Function, 2012

Wendy Bazilian is a doctor of public health, registered dietitian and freelance writer in San Diego. She is also the Nutrition Advisor at the renowned Golden Door and Co-owner of Bazilian’s Health Clinic with her husband and business partner, Dr. Jason Bazilian. Dr. Wendy is author of The SuperFoodsRx Diet (Rodale). (She thinks her husband’s pretty polyphenomenal, too!)

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