People always question me when I tell them to eat nuts, people worry that they are full of fat and will either make them fat or increase their cholesterol and be bad for their heart. This is so far from the truth. Except in the case where someone has a nut allergy or nut intolerance nuts are extremely healthy.
Research from the Archives of Internal Medicine in 2010 found that those eating 67g of nuts a day reduced total cholesterol by 5% (total cholesterol is a pretty useless marker for cardiovascular health by the way), but also lowered the “bad” LDL cholesterol by 7% and improved the ratio of LDL to “good” HDL cholesterol.
Another piece of research released this week in the New England Journal of Medicine has demonstrated the health benefits of eating nuts regularly. It found that those who regularly snacked on nuts, up to seven times a week were likely to live longer and had a reduced the risk of dying from all causes by 20%. For those eating nuts five times a week had a 29% drop in dying from heart disease and an 11% drop in cancer deaths. They also study found that people who ate nuts were more likely to lead healthier lives and less likely to smoke or be overweight.
Nuts are one my favourite foods. They are a great source of protein, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals. They are a great snack with a piece of fruit or you can sprinkle them in to a salad to give a bit of texture and flavour. Nut butters are nice with vegetable crudités and you can also chuck them into a smoothie to add a bit of protein and healthy fats. Try eating almonds, hazelnuts, pine nuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, macadamias or pistachio nuts.
Nuts do have lots of calories though so do watch the portion size, and be sure to eat less of the the salted, dry roasted and chocolate covered nuts and go for raw nuts instead.
References
Ying Bao, Jiali Han. Frank B. Hu, Edward L. Giovannucci, Meir J. Stampfer, Walter C. Willett, and Charles S. Fuchs. (2013). Association of Nut Consumption with Total and Cause-Specific Mortality. N Engl J Med 2013; 369:2001-2011
http://www.llu.edu/public-health/news/news-nuts-improve-blood-lipids.page
