Nuts are our friends

Walnuts seem a particularly good nut to eat, according to this study:

Eating a diet rich in walnuts or walnut oil could help your body deal better with stress, according to a new study from a team of Penn State researchers.

Following other studies which have shown that omega-3 fatty acids -- like the alpha linolenic acid found in walnuts and flax seeds -- can reduce bad cholesterol, Penn State researchers examined 22 healthy adults with elevated bad cholesterol (LDL) levels to see what effect a diet of walnuts and walnut oil might have.

The researchers found that including walnuts and walnut oil in the diet lowered both resting blood pressure and blood pressure responses to stress in the laboratory. To "stress" the participants, researchers had them give a speech or submerge a foot in cold water. "This is the first study to show that walnuts and walnut oil reduce blood pressure during stress..

And in other nut related news: as they don’t make an appearance in this part of the world, I didn’t know you could eat acorns. The New York Times provides a Korean recipe for acorn jelly. It explains:

Acorns were once a dietary staple wherever oak trees took root. Native Americans used acorn flour for baking; Germans roasted the nuts as a coffee substitute, and Berbers in North Africa pressed the fruit into oil.

These days, besides survivalists and squirrels, Koreans are among the few who’d think to find dinner on the front lawn.

You don’t just gnaw on any old acorn, though:

Acorns in their raw state are full of tannins, which are toxic in high doses. To avoid death by dinner, the nuts must be rinsed with water until the compound is thoroughly leached out. Processing time varies depending on the type of oak you choose.

Steve Brill, who leads edible foraging tours of New York City parks and is known as Wildman, says acorns from white oaks are generally less astringent than those from red oaks. He advises avoiding the red variety altogether unless you have access to an unpolluted freshwater stream.

“The ideal process is to put acorns in a weighted sack and set them in the running water for a few weeks,” he said.

And what do you do if you don't have a stream handy? Mr Brill has an eccentric domestic solution:

Mr. Brill...alternatively suggests placing the sack in a toilet tank for a month. Each flush will provide a quick rinse. “The tank isn’t contaminated with sewage,” he said, “but be warned that the tannins will turn the toilet water brown.”