Back in 1993, the original Walnut Study from Loma Linda University made headlines around the world and was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Why all the excitement? Because Loma Linda University had broken new ground. They were the first to find that walnuts in a controlled diet reduced LDL (bad) cholesterol and heart disease risk significantly more than the Step 1 diet that was then recommended by the American Heart Association.  In other words - they proved, scientifically, that food can be thy medicine. 

In April 2000, another landmark walnut study was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The study, a follow-up to the 1993 Loma Linda study, was conducted at the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona. Researchers had 49 men and women with high cholesterol incorporate walnuts into a healthy Mediterranean diet, substituting a handful of walnuts a day for some of the monounsaturated fat in the diet.

Participants lowered their "bad" LDL cholesterol by almost 6 per cent and heart disease risk by 11 per cent beyond what would be expected from the Mediterranean diet alone. The Loma Linda study participants substituted walnuts, one of nature's richest sources of polyunsaturated fat, for saturated fat. The Barcelona participants substituted walnuts for another healthy fat.

Barcelona scientists also remarked on the ease of incorporating walnuts into the diet. According to researcher Juan Carlos Laguna, Ph.D., "That's the main point of the study. You eat a normal amount, like five or six walnuts a day. That's something you can do every day without any problem."

Walnuts taste great, kids love them, and they are easy to incorporate into your day. Try adding some walnuts and some FructiPhi to your kid's oat meal - what a healthy way to start their day.  Enjoy a handful of walnuts as a snack or toss a few walnuts in with your salad.  

For those of you who are a little more adventurous, a morning treat that we call
The Farmacy Sunrise.

(note: BeautiPhi, ClariPhi, ElectriPhi, or GloriPhi will also work well with this recipe) 

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and frothy. Serve with one slice of toasted whole wheat bread with one tablespoon natural preserves.  Enjoy!