As noted in recent news lately, walnuts are water guzzlers. While California’s water crisis soars, agricultural acreage devoted to walnuts has grown 30 percent in the state over the past 10 years.
What California farmers may eventually lose to conservation may trickle down to a global walnut drought, depriving us an abundance of one the healthiest foods on the planet.
The nutritional benefits in walnuts are amazing in their reach, ranging from heart health and cognitive function, to prevention of cancer and diabetes One of the mighty nutrients inside the walnut are Omega-3 fatty acids.
According to Dr. Frank Sacks Professor in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health, walnuts contain alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), one of the two major types of omega-3 fatty acids vital to our health. A handful of five or six walnuts is enough to meet our daily requirements for ALA. They also serve up key antioxidants that protect our health and help block our consumption of bad cholesterol.
Walnuts are a nutrition packed, guilt free snack. And with higher prices looming, just may be worth their weight in gold.