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Eating walnuts regularly can slash the risk of developing type 2 Diabetes by up to 24 percent

In a study of nearly 140,000 women, those who ate a 28 gram pack of walnuts just twice a week were almost a quarter less likely to develop type 2 Diabetes than women who ate them rarely or not at all.

Scientists studied 137,893 nurses between the ages of 35 and 77 over a ten year period at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, MA to monitor how many developed Type 2 Diabetes. Their diets were closely monitored, paying careful attention to how often they ate walnuts.

Women who consumed walnuts one to three times a month reduced their risk by four percent. Those who consumed them once a week slashed their risk by 13 percent and 24 percent when consumed at least twice a week.

Due to walnuts healthy fatty acids, they have also been linked to protect against heart disease, cancer and arthritis. Young men who ate walnuts everyday also had an increased sperm count, according to a study done by researchers at University of California Los Angeles.

In 2011, the American Diabetes Association reported a total of 25.8 million children and adults in the United States had diabetes, an alarming 8.3 percent of the American population. In the UK, type 2 Diabetes it projected to rise from a current 2.5 million to four million by 2025 and five million by 2030 according to the charity Diabetes UK.

Poor diet, obesity and lack of exercise are all major factors that increase the risk of developing type 2 Diabetes. If left untreated, people living with the disease are at an increased risk of heart attack, blindness and amputation. The American Diabetes Association reported that seven million people were undiagnosed in 2011.