For a strong, smoky flavor, opt for black walnuts over more commonly found varieties of walnuts. You can sometimes find this nut for sale in grocery stores and specialty nut shops; however, if you live in the eastern part of the United States, you may choose to forage for them -- this tree is native to the area and quite plentiful. You will have to fight the squirrels for them, though, as the black walnut is a wildlife favorite. And no wonder: the black walnut contains a range of nutritional value.
Nutrition Basics
A 1-oz. serving of black walnuts provides 174 calories and 16.7 g of fat. This may seem quite fattening for such a small amount of walnuts, but the vitamin and mineral content of the nut makes it a good choice, despite this. In addition, only 1 g of the fat comes from saturated fat; the others fats are good for you. If you limit your consumption of black walnuts, you may safely eat them as a quick snack or incorporated into recipes. Black walnuts contain 2.8 g of carbohydrates and 1.9 g of fiber per serving, and serve as a good source of protein as well -- a serving of this nut has 6.8 g.
Vitamins
Black walnuts are a good source of vitamin B-6; each serving provides 8 percent of the daily recommended intake of this vitamin. The vitamin B-6 in black walnuts helps your body convert protein to energy and promotes the efficient use of protein for a variety of purposes. A serving of these walnuts contains lesser amounts of vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and pantothenic acid.
Minerals
Eat a serving of black walnuts, and you take in 19 percent of the copper you need each day. The copper content in this nut makes it a smart choice for metabolizing iron and encouraging the production of red blood cells. Black walnuts also provide 15 percent of the phosphorus and 14 percent of the magnesium you require each day. Each serving of nuts has 4 percent of the potassium, 5 percent of the iron, 6 percent of the zinc and 2 percent of the calcium your body needs daily as well.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
While black walnuts contain less omega-3 fatty acids than English walnuts, this nut is still quite high in this healthy fatty acid. The omega-3 fatty acids in black walnuts play a critical role in cognitive function, fighting depression and easing symptoms associated with attention deficit disorders, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Harvesting
Note that the surrounding green husk of the black walnut, as well as the nut shell itself, can stain your hands -- wear gloves when harvesting and removing the husk; rinse walnuts well before handling. The black walnut shell is very difficult to crack -- some popular methods of getting to the inner meat include taking a sledgehammer to them or driving a car over a bag of nuts. For this reason, it is rare to find whole black walnut meats as the nut is usually damaged in some way during opening.
References
- Virginia Tech Non-Timber Forest Products; Fact Sheet No. 3; January 2001
- Fitbit: Walnuts, Black, Dried
- Australian Dept. of Health and Ageing; Vitamins and Minerals; July 2006
- Center For Agroforestry: Why Black Walnuts;
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Omega-3 Fatty Acids
- University of Minnesota Extension; Harvesting Black Walnuts; October 1998
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