The walnut is the nut from any tree in the genus Juglans, but the walnut that we refer to most often is that of the Persian or English walnut, Juglands regia. Technically, the walnut is the seed of a drupe, making it not a true nut (but that doesn’t mean we can eat it on AIP, sorry! You can see the reasoning behind this if you read my blog post, The WHYs behind the Autoimmune Protocol: Nuts and Seeds). As the name gives away, the common walnut originally came from Persia; in fact, walnuts are the oldest tree food we know of, and it has been cultivated and consumed since at least 7000 BC! Walnuts grow in many temperate climates, so they are available all over the world, and they are ripe and ready for harvesting in the late summer and fall. Even though walnut is not included in AIP, I have some awesome non-AIP-friendly recipes on my blog:
- Citrus, Fig, and Walnut Salad
- Maple-Walnut Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Plantain Fritter Pancakes with Maple Coconut Cream and Toasted Walnuts
- Chocolate-Walnut Freezer Fudge
- Paleo Apple Crisp
- Bacon-Basil Zucchini Pasta
Walnuts are a great source of nutrition for those who tolerate them! I love that walnuts are a good balance of protein, carbohydrates (most of which are fiber!), and fat (mono- and polyunsaturated fats, mostly). 100g of walnuts is an excellent source of vitamins B1, B6, and B9 (folate) as well as the minerals manganese, phosphorus, magnesium, and zinc. Walnuts are also a decent source of the vitamins B2, B3, B5, and the minerals calcium, iron, and potassium.
Walnuts are available almost anywhere! I like to grab mine in bulk online from Amazon.
Lychee