New research from Loma Linda University suggests that adding walnuts to your daily routine may be one practical way to lower dietary inflammation.
What if a simple daily food choice could help shift your diet toward a healthier inflammatory balance? New research from Loma Linda University suggests that adding walnuts to your daily routine may be one practical way to lower dietary inflammation.
The study, published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, found that older adults who regularly ate walnuts had slightly but statistically significantly lower dietary inflammatory index scores than those who avoided them.
While walnuts aren't a cure for inflammation, the findings add to growing evidence that the foods we eat can influence the body's inflammatory environment.
Inflammation is a normal part of the body's defense and healing processes. However, persistent, low-grade inflammation has been associated with a range of chronic health conditions. Diet is one factor that may influence the body's inflammatory response.
To study this relationship, researchers use a tool called the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII). It estimates the inflammatory potential of a person's overall diet based on the foods and nutrients they consume. A lower score suggests a dietary pattern associated with less inflammatory potential.
The Loma Linda University study examined whether regularly eating walnuts could affect this score. Researchers followed 319 older adults from Loma Linda, California, for two years. Approximately half were assigned to eat 1–2 ounces (28–57 grams) of walnuts daily, while the control group avoided walnuts and significantly limited other nuts. Neither group was asked to make additional dietary changes.
Participants met with researchers five times during the study and reported the foods and beverages they had consumed over the previous 24 hours.
At the end of the two-year period, the walnut group had slightly but statistically significantly lower DII scores than the control group. This suggests that adding walnuts to the diet may help shift overall eating patterns toward lower inflammatory potential.
These findings build on earlier results from the Walnuts and Healthy Aging Study, a two-year clinical trial conducted by researchers at Loma Linda University School of Public Health and Hospital Clinic of Barcelona in Spain.
Previous research from the trial found that daily walnut consumption was associated with reductions in several circulating markers of inflammation. Together, the findings suggest that walnuts may influence both the inflammatory potential of the overall diet and certain biological indicators of inflammation.
The research adds to more than 20 scientific papers produced through the Walnuts and Healthy Aging Study, which investigated the effects of regular walnut consumption in older adults.
Although the results are encouraging, the differences in dietary inflammatory scores were modest. The study also focused on older adults, so additional research is needed to determine how the findings may apply to other populations.
One of the most encouraging aspects of this research is how simple the dietary change can be. You don't need an elaborate meal plan or complicated recipes to incorporate walnuts into your routine.
Activities such as adding walnuts to oatmeal or overnight oats or sprinkling them over salads for extra crunch or just eating a handful as a snack are simple ways to increase your walnut intake.
The study used approximately 1–2 ounces of walnuts daily. You can start with a smaller serving and work it into your meals in a way that suits your appetite and nutritional needs.
Sujatha Rajaram, Ph.D., a professor in the School of Public Health and the study's senior investigator, emphasized the practical value of the findings.
"The important message is that incorporating nutrient-rich food such as walnuts is a simple and practical step toward shifting your dietary pattern to be less inflammatory," Rajaram said. "This illustrates how a relatively simple food choice can contribute to the overall diet quality."
The takeaway is straightforward: A handful of walnuts won't eliminate inflammation on its own, but it may be a worthwhile addition to a balanced, nutrient-rich diet.
Rather than focusing on a single food as a solution, prioritize an overall eating pattern rich in vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, nuts and other minimally processed foods. Small, consistent choices can help improve diet quality over time, and walnuts may be an easy place to start.
Click here to read more in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
