Going nuts: Ramdev prescription spikes walnut prices

Yoga guru Baba Ramdev has done what Diwali could not do to walnuts.

According to a report in the_Economic Times_ ,the prices of walnut have risen even though the sale of other nuts is languishing despite it being the Diwali season as people are taking to walnut after Ramdev’s advice that walnut is a remedy for knee pain.

[caption id=“attachment_516063” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Yoga guru Baba Ramdev has done what Diwali could not do to walnuts. Reuters[/caption]

“The credit for increase in sale for walnut goes largely to Baba Ramdev,” Dipty Arora of Aman International, a leading walnut trader, has been quoted as saying in the report_._

Wholesale price of walnut in shell in Narwal mandi of Jammu has surged 17-20 % in the past year to Rs 200-300 a kg.

Similarly, walnut kernel has jumped up to 50% and is selling at prices as high as Rs 1,100 a kg, the report said.

Shyam Sunder Bansal, secretary of the Indo-Afghan Chamber in Delhi, has been quoted as saying thatRamdev has been praising thegood qualitiesof walnut for the past six months.

According to the report Ramdev has in the past spoken of the benefits of lauki, karela and aloe vera, which had resulted in higher demand for these products too.

Chandigarh-based orthopaedic specialist MP Singh feels that walnuts and other nuts like almonds, pine nut (chilgoza) consumed in proper balance are good sources of carbohydrates, protein, vitamin E, minerals like manganese, copper, potassium, calcium, iron and good fat.

“Nevertheless, there is no new medical study that proves that walnut, or any other nut, is a cure for knee joint arthritis,” he said.