According to a new study, risk of breast cancer dropped significantly in mice, when their regular diet included a modest amount of walnuts throughout their lives. The study, published in the journal Nutrition and Cancer, compared the effects of a typical diet to that of a diet containing walnuts across the lifespan. The amount of walnut in the test diet equated to about 2oz/day for humans. “What we found was that consumption of a walnut diet reduced mammary tumors in mice,” said W. Elaine Hardman, Ph.D., the study’s lead investigator and associate professor at the Marshall University’s Joan C. Edwards

School of Medicine. “The best tumor reduction was when both the mother consumed walnuts and her offspring consumed walnuts throughout life.” The study was funded by grants from the American Institute for Cancer Research, with a matching grant from the California Walnut Commission. Neither group had any input on the study design or findings. www.walnuts.org pf