Juglans major
A canyon spirit that tones the tubes
When the project to dam Arizona’s Salt River started in 1905, the state became an instant job market. Laborers poured in from all over the world, and history takes particular note of Apache laborers, whose homelands bordered the river, and Italian stonemasons from nearby Globe and New York City.
Canyon spirit
The multiyear project gave the workers a chance to settle in; make themselves at home while camped in the wild and rugged canyon. The Italians certainly did. Although government-funded projects typically prohibited alcohol on or near the worksite, archaeologists found wine and bitters bottles from Italy in two areas.
Because of the harsh working conditions, the feds looked the other way as Italian saloon owners from nearby Globe and Phoenix brought spirits to their compatriots. Maybe they even brought a bottle or two of nocino, that captivating digestivo made from unripe (green) walnuts, spices and citrus.
They sure had enough product to create the spirit. Arizona walnut (Juglans major), also called Canyon Walnut, grows all over Arizona, favoring rocky side canyons, 300 feet to 6,300 feet in elevation. Harvest time for the unripe walnuts usually occurs from May in the state’s lower elevations into July in cooler climes.
Weapon of mass destruction
Canyon Walnut and its cousin species that grow around the world have historically been used to slay the lowlife pathogens that vex intestines. The Juglans clan accomplishes this with its high tannic acid content, which tones tissue and moves out mucus; a generously high iodine content, an antiseptic that’s also crucial to regulate the body’s metabolism; and a kryptonite-like chemical that dwells in all parts of the tree—most strongly in the buds, green hulls, and leaves—called hydrojuglone.
When hydrojuglone oxidizes, it becomes juglone, a weapon of microbial mass destruction. In the natural scheme of things, juglone protects walnut trees from predator insects and microbes, as well as several competing species of plants, by messing with respiration and photosynthesis.
Juglone has a number of medicinal capabilities that include antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, cognitive function support, protection from toxic substances (heavy metals, fertilizers, air pollution, etc.), sedative, and cardioprotectant. This impressive collection has made Juglans popular with the research crowd.
Evidence-based benefits
Evidence of juglone’s anti-cancer features is mounting to the point it has become a research hotspot. Studies document juglone’s ability to resist, inhibit, and/or kill a variety of cancer cells as well as increase the effectiveness of anti-cancer drugs. Research has further acknowledged that Juglans can help normalize malabsorption problems as well as soothe ulcers and allay spasms.
One study found Juglans “leaf extract significantly decreased the body weight and systolic BP without any adverse effects on the liver and kidney function.” This result led the researchers to conclude Juglans imparts cardio protection. And current studies are taking a longer look at how walnut leaves allay Type 2 diabetes.
Of particular interest is juglone’s ability to quash the activation of three key enzymes from Heliobacter pylori bacteria. H-pylori has become the poster child for the cause of digestive maladies due to its strong connection to gastric infections, gastric cancer, and malabsorption issues. An infection comes largely from contaminated water and foods, as well as human contact. The current protocol for infections is a combination of antibiotics. The microbe, however, has joined the growing group of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
The usual suspects
That Juglans can slay intestinal pathogens and help tone tissue is no little matter, considering today’s growing health issues. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association this week presented observations culled from international databases and 115 papers on GI cancers (gastric, esophageal, and pancreatic) regarding early-onset gastrointestinal cancer, which has risen more than 50% since 2014 in the under-fifties, especially Black, Hispanic, indigenous, and women. Colon cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death in men under 50.
Although early-onset cancers commonly occur when there’s a family history, the researchers commented “[m]ost early-onset GI cancers are associated with modifiable risk factors.” The risk factors listed in the study include the usual suspects: “obesity, sugar-sweetened beverages, ultraprocessed foods, sedentary lifestyle, cigarette smoking, and alcohol consumption.”
The right stuff
Juglans’ protection comes not only from the green hulls and leaves of walnut trees, but also walnuts. A gastroenterologist researching how walnuts affect the colon claimed he could spot a “walnut colon.” The colon lining, he explained, glistened and looked healthier. Walnuts, along with strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and pomegranates, rank among the foods with the highest amount of ellagitannins which, after ingested, release ellagic acid.
Ellagic acid is good stuff. The American Cancer Society has concluded the antioxidant “prevents the binding of carcinogens to DNA and strengthens connective tissue.” Research found ellagic acid inhibits tumor growth and protects against chromosome damage from radiation therapy. Its blend of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimutagenic, and antiproliferative properties imparts great potential for deflecting harmful effects from today’s toxic environmental and dietary brews.
A test of time
None of these benefits from walnut trees is news, however. The hulls have been used for centuries by the world’s cultures wherever these noble trees appear, from east Indians to American Indians, including those Apaches that worked on Roosevelt Dam.
Besides using walnut hulls to tone the intestines and rid the gut of parasites, herbal physicians in Europe and the U.S. documented success using walnut hulls in toning the arteries and healing prolapsed and enlarged organs. Some swear by it for skin maladies. And some herbalists favor the hulls for low thyroid issues.
These traditional uses of this transformational medicinal, though eons old, continue to produce results that have stood the test of time, even under the watchful eye of the researcher.
Notes
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9510174/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31073878
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Effect-of-Juglone-2-and-7-on-H-pylori-viability-in-liquid-medium-Statistically_fig2_324752670
https://pm https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/27/well/eat/food-diet-cancer-risk.html
Rabiei, K., Ebrahimzadeh, M.A., Saeedi, M. et al. Effects of a hydroalcoholic extract of Juglans regia (walnut) leaves on blood glucose and major cardiovascular risk factors in type 2 diabetic patients: a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. BMC Complement Altern Med 18, 206 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-018-2268-8
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S075333222200173
Juglone: A therapeutic phytochemical from Juglans regia L; October 2011, Journal of Medicinal Plants Research 5(22):5324-5330
Dos S Moreira C, Santos TB, Freitas RHCN, Pacheco PAF, da Rocha DR. Juglone: A Versatile Natural Platform for Obtaining New Bioactive Compounds. Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry. 2021 ;21(22):2018-2045. DOI: 10.2174/1568026621666210804121054. PMID: 34348624
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2836671
https://colorectalcancer.org/article/colorectal-cancer-alliance-state-screening-study-reveals-potentially-fatal-attitudes