Benefits and Uses of Walnut Oil

Walnut Oil is packed with amazing health benefits. Some of these benefits includes reducing the development of atherosclerotic plaques, preventing hair loss, managing blood sugar, managing psoriasis and helping improve fertility in men. Other benefits includes improving brain function, reducing cancer risk, aiding good sleep, promoting bone health and reducing the frequency of migraine attacks. It is also useful for preventing wrinkles and ensuring a healthy skin.
 

Walnut oil is readily available, and known throughout the world. However, a lot of people still don’t take advantage of this versatile oil, most likely due to the fact that they don’t know what it can offer them. However, after reading this, you will soon see why walnut oil is best in class for many health benefits, and will likely start using it yourself.

Extracted via cold pressing techniques, walnut oil is likely one of the most expensive oils you can purchase. This price is usually much more if you opt for an imported variety, as opposed to one manufactured locally in your own country. Many countries today grow walnuts, so finding a local variety shouldn’t be too difficult. Regardless, if you get a local one or not, it is still worth every dollar in purchasing some. Why? Because of the amazing benefits it can have on your health.
 

Atherosclerotic plaque are caused by a combination of bad cholesterol, high fat intake, insulin function and inflammatory processes in response to a vascular injury. Walnut oil can help reduce these deposits, as they are rich in cholesterol free polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, effective for lowering the levels of LDL transport protein. This in turn reduces the likelihood of deposition of blood vessel walls, as well as being an anti-inflammatory fat itself. This is a perfect scenario for improving the health of your heart and vasculature.
 

Walnut oil contains a decent amount of potassium in it, which when applied topically to the scalp can help improve blood flow to hair follicles. Many cases of hair loss are due to nutrient and oxygen starvation of the follicles, which subsequently result in their death or dormancy. Its hydrating properties (thanks to Vitamin E and fat content) also help to prevent scalp disorders that may cause a less than favorable environment for hair growth, and can assist in treatment of dandruff.
 

Whether you are a diabetic already, or struggling to get a grip of blood sugar levels, walnut oil may be able to help you. For one, meals that contain fat slow the absorption of glucose into the bloodstream, reducing the insulin spike at any one time. In addition, walnut oil has stimulating actions on the pancreas to increase insulin synthesis in cases that the islet cells of the pancreas are finding it difficult to produce insulin in a timely manner.

Though these fixes are mainly useful for type 2 diabetics, as type 1 diabetics are unable to produce insulin, the overall health benefits warrant consumption by anyone as a means to also reduce diabetic complications from glucose dysfunction.
 

Psoriasis is a chronic auto-immune disease that causes accelerated skin turnover manifested as patchy scaly areas of skin. By moisturizing the skin, walnut oil helps to soothe the itching associated with the disease, and can reduce the likelihood of open ulcers developing. Because of the viscous nature of walnut oil, it is advised to apply at night and wash off upon waking in the morning.
 

Walnut oil is actually a very useful tool in the management of male infertility, as it improves several parameters of fertility that significantly increase the odds of a successful pregnancy. For one, it improves sperm count, but also improves their motility and overall morphology (shape). Abnormally shaped sperm have a difficult time entering and fusing with the female egg, and tend to not even survive the trip down the cervix. The oil also improves blood flow, enabling for stronger erections if that is a source of the problem.
 

Walnut oil shows great promise in helping preserve cognitive functions, delaying or preventing altogether the development of various neurodegenerative conditions. Since a large part of these disorders appear related to inflammation and formation of abnormal brain proteins, walnut oil with its anti-inflammatory nature help to prevent this from occurring. It also assists with improving blood flow to the brain, retaining cognitive skills well into old age when many people experience deficits.
 

While the unsaturated fats are natural anti-oxidants and combat oxidative damage that can cause cancer in the first place, walnut oil in particular seems to have a unique mechanism behind its cancer preventative action. It is believed that walnuts are able to reprogram genes that may increase the risk of someone developing cancer, which is a superior model for prevention than just loading up on anti-oxidants and hoping for the best.
 

Walnuts are naturally rich sources of melatonin, a neurotransmitter chemical that is important in regulation of the sleep wake cycle in humans, and which helps to initiate sleep in darkness. It is destroyed in the presence of light, so it is also a good idea to store your walnut oil in a dark bottle or in a dark room. Melatonin also helps to mitigate the effects of the stress hormone cortisol, which tends to prevent sleep.
 

Have you ever thought about what actually causes wrinkles? Most frequently, it is a natural (or unnatural) reduction in the levels of the protein collagen and elastin found in skin that give it the characteristic elasticity and ability to return to its natural shape when stretched. As we age, the amount of these proteins found in our skin decrease and thus, wrinkles and sagging occurs.

Walnut oil is rich in Vitamin E, a powerful anti-oxidant nutrient that nourishes the skin and prevents excessive depletion of our stores of these proteins. It also keeps skin hydrated, which reduces cracking and likelihood of infections entering the skin and causing structural degradation.
 

Walnut oil is an excellent source of Vitamin K, an under-appreciated vitamin that plays an important part in ensuring proper bone mineralization. Bone mineralization refers to the deposition of essential minerals into the bone matrix to ensure its strength and longevity. This in turn prevents fractures and breaks, and also minimizes leaching of calcium from the bones, which causes disorders such as osteoporosis.
 

Walnut oil contains a fair amount of magnesium, a mineral that shows great promise in treating and preventing migraine attacks. Studies have shown that when comparing people who consume supplemental magnesium to those that are deficient in this mineral, those that consume enough of the mineral experience far less migraine attacks, and are far less severe. Magnesium also has other important functions that include bone regulation and blood vessel health.
 

Walnuts by themselves are delicious, but calorie heavy making unfeasible to consume adequate amounts every day. However, walnut oil is an excellent compromise, as it is loaded with good fats, and still allows you to experience many of the benefits walnut is renowned for. Apply liberally to the skin for topical maladies, and consume conservatively to experience the best of both worlds.