ANGUS HOWARTH, "Walnuts fight fat's harmful effect on arteries",
Scotsman, October 10, 2006,
Link: http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=1497132006

FINISHING a meal with a handful of walnuts can help stop fatty food
damaging arteries, the latest research suggests.

A study found that olive oil, traditionally thought to be good for the
heart and arteries, did not provide the same protection.

Dr Emilio Ros, director of the Lipid Clinic at the Hospital Clinico in
Barcelona, Spain, recruited 24 non-smoking adults with normal body
weights and blood pressure. Half had normal cholesterol levels, and
half moderately high.

Volunteers were randomly assigned to one of two groups, and each given
two high-fat meals, eaten one week apart.

The meals were identical, consisting of a sandwich made with salami and
cheese on white bread, and a small serving of full-fat yoghurt. For one
meal, Dr Ros's team of researchers added five teaspoons of olive oil.
For the other, they added eight shelled walnuts.

Tests showed that both the oil and the walnuts helped to reduce the
sudden onset of inflammation and oxidation in arteries that follows a
meal high in saturated fat.

These harmful processes can lead to hardening of the arteries and heart
disease.

However, unlike olive oil, adding walnuts also helped preserve the
elasticity and flexibility of the arteries, regardless of cholesterol
level.

Arteries that are elastic can expand when needed to increase blood
flow.

"Each time we eat a high-fat meal, the fat molecules trigger an
inflammatory reaction that, among other ill effects, reduces the
elasticity of the arteries," said Dr Ros, whose research is reported in
the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.