Walnut consumption may slow down cancer progression, research uncovers

21 Jun 2022 --- New research is suggesting a link between walnut consumption and lower cancer risk. The sub-study of the Walnuts and Healthy Aging (WAHA) trial looks at the interplay of walnut consumption, changes in circulating miRNAs and reduction in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol – often referred to as “bad cholesterol” – in elders.

The new publication in the journal Nutrients suggests that regularly consuming walnuts may positively be related to “reduced cell migration and invasion in several carcinomas”.

“The WAHA study is a randomized, clinical trial conducted in free-living elders aimed at evaluating the effects of walnut consumption in cognitively healthy elders (63 to 79 years-old),” the researchers share.

“We already reported that compared to the control group (usual diet with abstention from walnuts), consumption of walnuts for two years improved fasting lipids,” they detail. “Here we aimed at providing a further mechanistic insight of these results, in particular the reduction of LDL cholesterol.” 

Regularly consuming walnuts has been linked to a reduction in bad cholesterol.A walnut a day
Authors of a recent paper in International Journal of Molecular Sciences describe c-miRNAs, stating: “Circulating microRNAs (c-microRNAs, c-miRNAs) – which are present in almost all biological fluids – are promising sensitive biomarkers for various diseases (oncological and cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative pathologies, etc.), and their signatures accurately reflect the state of the body.”

Studies of the expression of microRNA markers show that they can enable a wide range of diseases to be diagnosed before clinical symptoms are manifested, and they can help to assess a patient’s response to therapy in order to correct and personalize treatments.

“Given that one-year changes in c-miRNAs in a selected subset is a secondary prespecified WAHA outcome, we hypothesized that the expected LDL cholesterol reduction after one year of walnut consumption would be partly mediated by changes in c-miRNAs.”

Supporting increased health of cell tissues
In the new publication, the researchers discovered that after one year of supplementation with walnuts there was an upregulation of the miRNA hsa-miR-551a.

Because this mechanism has been linked to a reduced cell migration and invasion in several carcinomas, the findings further evidence the benefits of walnuts in lowering cancer risk.

But slowing down cancer progression is not the only benefit a diet rich in walnuts may offer. Using artificial intelligence in a previous study, Harvard researchers correlated walnut consumption with a 17 percent lower risk of Type 2 diabetes and 29 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease. 

Overall, mixed nuts in weight management programs were found to result in significant weight loss and improved satiety, according to separate research from the University of California, Los Angeles. This is in addition to other findings that regularly consuming a variety of nuts may lead to benefits for the heart, reproductive health and stress reduction.

By Benjamin Ferrer