Ulcerative colitis: walnuts for the sick intestine

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

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Bloody diarrhea, painful cramps: in people with ulcerative colitis, the intestines keep going crazy. The cause is an inflammation of the intestinal mucosa, which occurs in bursts. Walnuts can apparently alleviate the symptoms - at least in experiments with intestinal mice.

US researchers led by Prof. Daniel Rosenberg used dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) to trigger an inflammatory surge in the intestines of laboratory mice. The scientists fed some of the animals with freshly ground walnuts two weeks before they were given DSS and for a further two weeks during the study period. The amount corresponded to a ration of 20 to 25 walnuts daily for humans.

Less damage to the intestinal lining

The nut cure had an effect: the intestines of the mice were subsequently less damaged, and the protective intestinal mucosa, which is otherwise affected by the disease, was thicker and more solid than in rodents with intestinal diseases that had not received any nuts.

It remained open whether the intestine was less susceptible to inflammation thanks to the nuts or whether it was merely regenerating particularly well.

More unsaturated fatty acids

The researchers observed that the composition of the metabolic products in the intestine changed positively under the walnut diet. In particular, the proportion of various polyunsaturated fatty acids, so-called PUFAs, increased. Among other phyto-active ingredients was docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). It is one of the omega-3 fatty acids and had already proven to be an effective intestinal protection against inflammation in previous studies.

In a current experiment, the researchers are investigating how walnuts affect the human intestine. To do this, participants consume two ounces (56 grams) of walnuts daily for a period of three weeks. A subsequent intestinal examination should show possible peculiarities of the metabolic products in the intestine as well as the intestinal microbiome.

In search of the protective substance

"We do not recommend people with ulcerative colitis to eat large amounts of walnuts in between flare-ups. But we hope to find out the components of walnuts that create the protective effect," says Rosenberg.

Ulcerative colitis is one of the chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, along with Crohn's disease. Experts estimate that around 168,000 people in Germany suffer from it. The causes have not yet been clarified. However, there appears to be a genetic predisposition to the disease.

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