On the TV series “The Sopranos,” Paulie Walnuts (Tony Sirico) got his nickname after he highjacked a truck he thought was filled with TV sets, but was actually filled with — you guessed it — walnuts.

Unfortunately, the guys never did figure out the enormous value of those tasty morsels.

For years, we've been advocating eating 14 walnut halves a day because they contain alpha-linolenic acid (an omega-3), as well as magnesium, manganese, potassium, copper, vitamin B6, and iron.

All of these nutrients help increase brain function, control diabetes, and reduce heart woes such as high blood pressure and bad cholesterol.

One study that examined 26 previous studies found walnut eaters had about 5.5 mg/dL lower LDL cholesterol levels than non-walnut eaters.

Now it turns out that for women with breast cancer, eating 2 ounces of walnuts a day for about 14 days makes beneficial changes in the expression of 456 genes that inhibit cell proliferation and migration.

For a study published in the journal Nutrition Research, scientists from Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine tested whether “walnut consumption would alter gene expression in pathologically confirmed breast cancers of women in a direction that would decrease breast cancer growth.”

And their results indicate that, yes, walnut consumption may do just that.

So enjoy walnuts as a snack (but not too many; they are calorie-dense), in salads, blended with olive oil and basil for a pesto, as an oil on salads, and in stir-fries (good for cooking temperatures up to 400 F).