Of Walnuts, Hearts and Prostates
Spaccarotella KJ, Kris-Etherton PM, Stone WL, et al. The effect of walnut intake on factors related to prostate and vascular health in older men. Nutr J. 2008 May 2;7:13. PMID: 18454862
Investigators at Penn State, Rutgers and East Tennessee State report on a small 8-week study examining the effects of walnuts on serum tocopherols and prostate specific antigen in men at risk for prostate cancer.
From the introduction:
"Walnuts may provide an inexpensive and practical method for supplementing intake of both tocopherols and other nutrients that may protect against prostate cancer. For example, 75 g of walnuts contain 0.52 mg α-T [alpha-tocopherol] and 15.6 mg γ-T [gamma-tocopherol]. Walnuts also contain ellagic acid (590 μg/g), which has been shown to effectively induce apoptosis and inhibit angiogenesis. In addition, walnuts are a rich source of unsaturated fatty acids that favorably affect CVD risk, and several recent feeding studies with walnuts have reported a total and LDL cholesterol lowering effect following consumption of about 70–80 g/d of walnuts."
In their small sample (21 participants), the researchers found that 8 weeks of walnut supplementation improved biomarkers of prostate and vascular status, including a "significant decrease in the α-T: γ-T ratio with an increase in serum γ-T and a trend towards an increase in the ratio of free PSA:total PSA."
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