How to Improve Your Cholesterol with Walnuts

According to recent studies, walnuts could improve your cholesterol, especially if you have diabetes. In one study, walnuts were included in a low-fat or modified-fat diet in men and women diagnosed with diabetes. After six months, those who included 30 grams of walnuts daily had improved levels of HDL-cholesterol, the type of cholesterol commonly known as “good” cholesterol.[1] If you have high cholesterol, try adding walnuts to your diet as a way to lower levels.

Method 1 - Eating Walnuts

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→ Eat walnuts as a snack. The easiest way to use walnuts is as a quick snack. Just grab a handful between meals. Walnuts are tasty, so they are delicious by themselves.

→ You can also eat walnuts with plain or Greek yogurt or in trail mix. Try making granola with walnuts, or adding it to granola you have purchased.

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→ Put walnuts in breakfast. An easy way to get walnuts into your diet is to include them in your breakfast. Throw a handful of walnuts in your cereal, quinoa, or your oatmeal. You can even have a few walnuts as a side to eggs.

→ Mix walnuts with fruit and even yogurt for a breakfast parfait.

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→ Add walnuts to lunch. Walnuts are easy to add to your lunch. When you eat salads, just place walnuts on top. If you’re having a bowl of soup, sprinkle chopped walnuts on top as a garnish. You can even put walnuts into pasta.

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→ Pair walnuts with vegetables. Walnuts taste great when you add them to sauteed vegetables. As you saute the vegetables, just toss some in walnuts right before you remove the vegetables from heat. If you make a vegetable casserole, include walnuts in it.

→ You can also add walnuts into lentils, beans, rice, millet, or quinoa for a side dish.

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→ Make a spread or butter. For a snack or topping, make walnut butter or a walnut spread. Puree walnuts into a walnut butter to spread onto bread or crackers. You can also thin the puree with olive oil or flax oil to get even more healthy fats. Use this as a dip, similar to hummus.

→ Add any herbs you want to the spread for extra flavor. Some suggestions would be garlic or onions, dill, sage, thyme, or oregano.

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→ Cook meat with walnuts. Walnuts pair great with meat. Use walnuts in turkey or chicken stuffing. Use them to make walnut-crusted chicken or fish.

Method 2 - Incorporating Walnuts Into Your Diet

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→ Eat 30 grams of walnuts each day. To help reduce cholesterol, you should eat at least 30 grams of walnuts each day. This is approximately 1/4 cup or one to one and a half ounce. This amount of walnuts is 196 calories, but since they are healthy fats, they are good calories.

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→ Keep walnuts properly. You can buy whole walnuts or buy them already shelled and in pieces at the grocery store. If you prefer whole walnuts, choose those that have their shells intact. If you are buying walnut pieces, make certain they are not shriveled. The walnuts should smell fresh. The polyunsaturated fats in walnuts can go rancid. When they do, the walnuts will smell bad.

→ You can store shelled and unshelled walnuts in the refrigerator for six months. If you store them in the freezer, they should be good for at least a year. You can store unshelled walnuts in a cool, dark, and dry place, but check them for unusual odors after a few months. If you have the room to store them, buying in bulk can often save money.

→ Make sure that your walnuts are not blanched. They should have the skin on them, which is a flaky, whitish, sometimes waxy covering on nut. The skin contains many of the healthier parts of the nut.

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→ Consult your doctor. Before starting any diet change for your cholesterol, make sure to discuss it with your doctor. Talk to your doctor, or a dietician, about your cholesterol, any cholesterol medication you are taking, and your health goals.

Method 3 - Understanding How Walnuts Help Lower Cholesterol

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→ Know the difference between good and bad cholesterol. There are two main types of cholesterol, commonly referred to as “good” cholesterol (HDL) and “bad” cholesterol (LDL). Bad cholesterol is what leads to the hardening of arteries, which causes disease. Good cholesterol helps remove bad cholesterol from the blood.

→ When you are trying to improve your cholesterol numbers, it is important to lower your LDL (bad) cholesterol levels and raise your HDL (good) cholesterol levels at the same time.

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→ Understand the importance of walnuts. Walnuts are tree nuts and rich in a number of different nutrients, including flavonoids which are highly effective antioxidants and anti-inflammatory substances, a form of Vitamin E that appears to be effective in protecting against heart disease, and substances that are effective in protecting against diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and potentially both prostate and breast cancer.

→ Walnuts are high in omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are critical in reducing inflammation and in improving the ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids that can effectively increase HDL-cholesterol while lowering the LDL-cholesterol levels at the same time.