Step Aside Marijuana...There's a New Drug On the Block

You have had your spotlight.  We get it, you're not the big, dangerous, evil, monster herb that you have been portrayed as.    

Step aside so I can introduce the new bad boy on the block.  Easy to score, light on the benjamins, and totally legal.   No smoking, no snorting, no needles, no popping pills.  No joke.  I'm on it and yes, I do it in front of the kids.  I even do it with the kids.    

The brilliant FDA had declared walnuts a drug.  You read right, a DRUG.  Walnuts.

 

Just another reason to trust the FDA.  They are always looking out for our best interest.  That and Big Pharma.

Get ready for the war on walnuts.  Doesn't really sound as catchy.

The FDA in a warning letter to Diamond Foods, says that "Based on claims made on your firm's website, we have determined that your walnut products are promoted for conditions that cause them to be drugs because these products are intended for use in the prevention, mitigation, and treatment of diseases."

The nut company has been selling its products with packaging which states the omega-3 fatty acids in walnuts have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease and some types of cancer. 

Let me tell you more about this "drug".

Research from the University of Scranton in Scranton, Pa, compared the amount of powerful antioxidants called polyphenols in nine types of nuts.  They also tested just how effective the antioxidants in the nuts are in regard to heart health using fancy lab tests.  Walnuts were the big winners. 

These polyphenols that walnuts are loaded with, are believed to reduce heart disease risk by lowering levels of blood cholesterol, improving blood flow, and cooling the inflammation that has been linked to heart disease. 

Since they are very high in Omega-3s, they help power your thinker.  One serving provides 91% of your daily value for Omega-3 essential fatty acid.  Omegas are known to protect our heart, promote cognitive development, and provide anti-inflammatory benefits.  Plus, Omegas make sick watches.

More benefits of taking this drug:

They power your immune system. 

Lower cholesterol. 

Help you snooze.

Shrinks that gut. 

Just two handful of walnuts a day may keep breast cancer away (especially if you are a mouse).  If you have breast cancer, walnuts may help curb tumor growth based on recent studies. 

Researcher W. Elain Hardman, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry at Marshall University School of Medicine in Huntington, W. Va., credits the disease fighting Omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and in particular, phytosterols in walnuts.

"Phytosterols bind to estrogen receptors, so they would be expected to slow growth of breast cancers."  Since many breast cancers are estrogen fueling this would help. 

Favorite ways to get my fix:

Breakfast- in my oatmeal with banana, in greek yogurt with agave syrup, banana walnut smoothie

Lunch- sprinkled on salad, any salad

Snack- my healing bars, plain, with apples, in trail mix

In a nut shell. This is one drug I'm not giving up. I'm a junkie.

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