By Lisa Rapaport (Reuters Health) – Eating a handful of walnuts each day might help keep the doctor away, at least for some people who are at risk of developing diabetes, a U.S. study suggests. When people in the study added 56 grams of walnuts (2 ounces, or about 14 walnuts) to their daily diet for six months, they had improvements in blood vessel function and reductions in “bad” LDL cholesterol, which builds up in blood vessels and can lead to blood clots and heart attacks. Blood vessel dysfunction and high LDL cholesterol are both risk factors for type 2 diabetes, which is associated with obesity and aging and occurs when the body can’t make or process enough of the hormone insulin.