Walnut-Enriched Diet May Reduce Risk of Prostate Cancer

A new study suggests that eating a modest amount of walnuts can aid in the battle against prostate cancer.

According to researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, immune-deficient mice injected with human prostate cancer cells were less likely to develop tumors if they were in the group that consumed a walnut-enriched diet.

In fact, results showed that only three of the 16 mice (18 percent) that consumed the walnut-enriched diet developed prostate tumors, compared with 14 to 32 mice (44 percent) on the non-walnut control diet. The researchers note that the final average tumor size in the walnut-fed animals was also roughly one-fourth the average size of the prostate tumors that developed in the mice eating the control diet.

"We found the results to be stunning because there were so few tumors in animals consuming the walnuts and these tumors grew much more slowly than in the other animals," said study senior author Russel Reiter, Ph.D., professor of cellular and structural biology at the Health Science Center, via a press release. "We were absolutely surprised by how highly effective the walnut diet was in terms of inhibition of human prostate cancer."

The walnuts and other food consumed by the mice in the study was pulverized into a fine powder, according to background information regarding the study. This prevented the creatures from consuming just the walnuts. "The walnut portion was not a large percentage of the diet," Dr. Reiter said, via the release. "It was the equivalent to a human eating about 2 ounces, or two handfuls, a day, which is not a lot of walnuts...

"The data to date suggest that using walnuts on a regular basis in the diet may be beneficial to defer, prevent or delay some types of cancer, including breast and prostate."

More information regarding the study can be found in the journal Cancer Investigation.