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Walnuts taste rich, nutty and slightly bitter – try them in muesli, salads, bread or pesto. They contain plant omega-3 (ALA) and are a major allergen.
Walnuts are among the most nutrient-dense nuts and mainly provide unsaturated fatty acids, fibre and a range of plant compounds. In this entry you'll find out what walnuts are botanically, which nutrients they contain and how to work them into your meals in a sensible way.
The walnut is the seed of the common walnut tree (Juglans regia), which belongs botanically to the walnut family. It originally comes from the regions between Central Asia and the Mediterranean; today it is grown in Europe, the USA, China and Chile, among other places.
In Central Europe, fresh walnuts are usually in season from September to November. In the shops you can get them all year round, either in their shells or already shelled. Strictly speaking, the walnut isn't a true nut but the seed of a stone fruit – in the kitchen, though, it counts as a nut.
The exact values vary slightly depending on the variety and where they're grown. Typical average values for walnuts are:
| Nutrient | Per 100 g |
|---|---|
| Calories | 654 kcal |
| Protein | 15.2 g |
| Fat | 65.2 g |
| Carbohydrate | 13.7 g |
| Fibre | 6.7 g |
| Magnesium | 158 mg |
| Copper | 1.6 mg |
| Manganese | 3.4 mg |
They also contain notable amounts of vitamin B6, folate, phosphorus and vitamin E. The fatty acid profile is especially worth knowing: compared with many other nuts, walnuts contain relatively large amounts of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a plant omega-3 fatty acid. If you're interested in other seeds and nuts with ALA, have a look at linseed and chia seeds too. To understand the difference between foods with ALA and marine fatty acids, see our overview of omega-3.
Walnuts are often linked with the heart and the brain. It's worth taking a sober look at the evidence.
For one thing, they contain lots of unsaturated fatty acids and only a little saturated fat. For another, they provide ALA, polyphenols and vitamin E. This combination makes them an interesting food as part of an overall balanced diet.
Intervention studies have looked at walnuts in connection with blood lipid levels, blood vessel function, fullness and diet quality, among other things. The results are interesting overall, but not consistent on every point. Most importantly, no single food ever works in isolation – it's always part of your whole eating pattern.
There is also research on brain function. Here the focus is mainly on ALA, polyphenols and compounds with antioxidant activity. However, the evidence isn't strong enough to turn walnuts into a special brain food. What can be said plainly: walnuts provide nutrients that research considers relevant to various body functions.
Walnuts are versatile, but they need a light touch in the kitchen. Because of their high fat content, they quickly turn bitter if the heat is too high.
A handy combination is walnuts plus berries plus yoghurt or soya yoghurt. If you're looking for other ingredients with plenty of polyphenols, blueberries and green tea are interesting too.
When buying, it's worth checking freshness and origin. Good walnuts smell mildly nutty, not stale or sharp. A rancid smell is a sign that the delicate fats have already oxidised.
What to look out for:
For storage:
If you use nuts and seeds often, it's also worth comparing them with almonds and pumpkin seeds, which each have different nutrient strengths.
Most people tolerate walnuts well, but there are a few things to bear in mind:
Here are a few fitting recipe ideas and places to start on SmarTasty:
Specific ideas:
In everyday life, about 25 to 30 g – a small handful – is a practical amount. That gives you a useful amount of nutrients without too many calories.
Walnuts have their own nutrient profile, mainly because of their ALA and polyphenol content. Other nuts may score differently on vitamin E, protein or certain minerals. You can't say "healthier" across the board – rather, they're made up differently.
Soaking isn't necessary. Some people find that soaked nuts agree with them better or taste milder. For the nutrient content, the benefit in everyday life is fairly limited.
Walnuts aren't a diet food in the strict sense. They can still fit into a structured eating plan, for example in place of highly processed snacks. What matters is your overall energy balance. More in our guide to working out your calorie deficit.
Walnuts are a nutrient-dense nut with a distinctive fatty acid profile, fibre and polyphenols. They are especially interesting for their plant omega-3 content in the form of ALA.
Used regularly in moderate amounts, they work well at breakfast, in salads and in bowls. What matters is less any single food than your eating pattern as a whole.