Walnuts are filled with vitamins and minerals, like vitamin B6, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and iron. This makes eating walnuts a smart choice, that will give your body both nutrition and energy. Additionally, because they contain healthy fats, protein, and fiber, eating walnuts will also help you feel full and satisfied for longer, which makes them a useful food to help with weight control. Now, new evidence suggests that eating walnuts may have a direct impact on slowing colon cancer growth, and scientists believe that colorectal cancer may, one day, be preventable!

A team of researchers from Harvard Medical School have uncovered a link between eating walnuts and slowing the growth of colon cancer. The study was published in The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, on April 1, 2015. Scientists studied two groups of mice with colon cancer, for 25 days. One group of mice was fed the human equivalent of 2 servings of walnuts per day (2oz), and the other group was fed a control diet that contained no walnuts.

High levels of linolenic, eicosapentaenoic, docosahexaenoic, and total omega-3 acids were found in the mice that ate walnuts. Those mice also had significantly slower growing, and smaller tumors than the mice who were in the control group. This new information leads researchers to believe that these acids, also called microrionucleic acids (or miRNAs), found in walnuts, may have protective properties against colon cancer. Further studies could one day lead to a major breakthrough in cancer research.

Walnuts are easy to include in your diet. If you would like to add them, you can begin by tossing them into salads, stir fries, or cereal. You can sprinkle them over fruit, or over desserts. You can also add walnuts into your baked goods.  You can use ground walnuts as flour, or as an ingredient to add to a breading for chicken or fish! The only limit is your imagination, so dare I say it? Go nuts!