The amazing power of simple fruits and nuts was reported a few years ago by Tufts University researcher, James Joseph, Ph.D. He reported that diets contain small amounts of walnuts (from 2 to 9 percent), when fed to senior rats, halted and reversed many markers of brain aging, age related movement slowing and cognitive impairment.

Dr. Joseph researched the impact of strawberry or blueberry extracts in an earlier study, on the effect these antioxidant rich foods had on brain nerve cells. The animals experienced reversals of age related deficits. The antioxidants halt the damage in the brain caused by free radicals. This current study builds upon the preceding findings and demonstrated that walnuts have a similar impact.

Walnuts contain anti-oxidant molecules, polyphenols and an essential omega-3 fatty acid, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). These compounds may block the signals free radicals create that can later trigger the formation of compounds that increase inflammation.

These findings for the first time determined that shorter chain fatty acids found in plants, such as walnuts, may have beneficial effects on cognition similar to those from long chain fatty acids derived from other sources, such as fish, which have been reported previously.

A six percent diet is equivalent to a person eating 1 ounce of walnuts each day, which is the recommended amount to reduce harmful low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, cholesterol, while a nine percent diet is equivalent to people eating 1.5 ounces of walnuts per day. “Importantly,” Joseph says, “this information, coupled with our previous studies, shows that the addition of walnuts, berries, and grape juice to the diet may increase ‘health span’ in aging and provide a ‘longevity dividend’ or economic benefit for slowing the aging process by reducing the incidence and delaying the onset of debilitating degenerative disease.”

Dr. Joseph and his associates are currently researching whether increased nerve cell production or chaeges in stress signaling, or both, may be involved int eh actions through which walnut diets are creating their effects.

Walnuts may have additional impact beyond “quenching” and halting free radicals. They may in fact be involved in blocking the harmful “stress signals” created by cell functions. Dr. Joseph suggests the beneficial effects of walnuts may be due to the enhancement of signals that control very important functions as nerve cell growth and communication.

A great deal of data suggests that the deficits associated with aging, for example, Alzheimer’s disease and cardiovascular diseases, occur as a result of an increasing inability of the “aging” organism to protect itself against inflammation and oxidative stress, providing fertile ground for the development of neurodegenerative diseases.

According to Dr. Joseph, “The good news is that it appears that compounds found in fruits and vegetables – and, as we have shown in our research, walnuts – may provide the necessary protection to prevent the demise of cognitive and motor function in aging.

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