Nuts – Stay Young and Healthy
Sunday, November 15, 2009 14:50“The secret of eternal youth may lie in melatonin”,this conclusion was reached after studies were conducted by researchers from the Department of Physiology, University of Granada, led by Professor Dario Acuna Castroviejo.
The natural form of melatonin secreted by the brain has the ability to delay the aging of the body through their antioxidant properties. The problem is that our brain stops producing around the age of 30 years. The researchers concluded that a daily dose of melatonin from 40 years onwards neutralized the effects of aging by increasing longevity.
The research team applied a treatment based on melatonin in laboratory mice. For the first 10 months (70 years in humans) mice experienced symptoms of aging such as hair loss, reduction in their ability to move, tumor formation, and so on. However, mice that received melatonin from the month of birth showed no such symptoms.
It is yet to be confirmed that melatonin produces the same effects in humans, but the panel believes it is very likely to happen, so it will continue with its research. The aim is to produce a product with the proper daily dose of melatonin. The marketing of this product could take years, so the researchers recommend eating foods rich in melatonin.
Many natural foods contain melatonin, such as corn, tomatoes and potatoes, but the amount of this hormone that is contained in nuts, is far superior to that found in other foods, besides being easily assimilated by the body.
In a study conducted by Dr. Reiter, a specialist in Neuro-endocrinology, it was shown that nuts are a great source of melatonin. The American Neuro-endocrine Association stresses that the consumption of nuts increases the melatonin in the blood up to three levels.
The value of nuts to health lies in not only melatonin but in all of its membership, we can take melatonin tablets instead of taking melatonin, but the walnuts provide other compounds that our body needs and which make it a very special food.
Norwegian and U.S. researchers made a list of habitual consumption of foods that contain the greatest amount of antioxidants. After analyzing thousands of foods, the experts concluded that nuts are the foods that contain higher amounts of antioxidants. Antioxidants help prevent many cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes. Studies have indicated that nuts have 20 times more units of antioxidants than the foods considered rich in these compounds, such as oranges, spinach or tomatoes. Among the antioxidants present in walnuts are Vitamin E, Polyphenols and trace elements, Selenium, Copper, Zinc and Magnesium.
Other research such as that conducted by a team from the Hospital Clinic in Barcelona led by Dr. Emilio Ross, have demonstrated the benefits of nuts in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases due to their content of Omega-3 and Omega-6. The work showed that the consumption of nuts prevented adverse effects of animal fat on the arteries.
