By Beth Howard AARP
Almonds used to get all the accolades in the nut family. Now research shows that nuts of all kinds are some of nature's top sources of disease-fighting antioxidants, protein, fiber, and mono-and polyunsaturated oils.
Need evidence? Data from the University of Toronto show that replacing 50 grams of carbs (about a muffin's worth) in your diet with 2.5 ounces of nuts each day helps control blood glucose in people with type 2 diabetes. Mice that ate a walnut-rich diet (the equivalent of 2 ounces daily in humans) were half as likely to develop breast cancer as those that didn't eat nuts, according to another study. And when researchers recently pooed the results of 25 clinical trials, they found that eating 2.4 ounces of any kind of nuts a day lowered "bad" LDL cholesterol by up to 7 percent and total cholesterol by up to 5 percent. Other studies have shown that people who eat several servings of nuts a week slash their cardiovascular risks by up to 74 percent, compared with those who eat nuts less than once a week.
If you're worried about nuts high fat content, don't be. Women who consumed two or more nut servings per week had a slightly lower risk of obesity than those who ate nuts less frequently or not at all, the long running Nurses' Health Study from the Harvard School of Public Health recently discovered.
"Nuts increase satiety," explains Joan Salge Blake, a registered dietitian and clinical associate professor in nutrition at Boston University. "That helps your meals go a little longer, so you don't snack as often."
Just don't eat too many. Stick to a daily serving-enough to fill only the palm of your hand.
What's in a Nut? They are high in calories and fat, but they offer some significant health benefits.
Walnuts - 185 per ounce (14 nut halves) and lowers breast cancer risk
Sunflower seeds - 165 per ounce (about 1/4 cup) and lowers LDL cholesterol
Almonds - 169 claories per ounce (22 nuts) and reduces insulin resistance and LDL cholesterol
Peanuts - 166 calories per ounce (25-28 nuts) helps control diabetes and reduces "bad" LDL cholesterol
Macadamia nuts - 204 calories per ounce (10-12 nuts) and lowers LDL cholesterol
Pecans - 196 calories per ounce (19 nut halves) and lowers LDL cholesterol
Pistachios - 161calories per ounce (49 nuts) may help reduce lung cancer risk and improves HDL
What nuts do you have in your kitchen? I have pine nuts, almonds, pecans, walnuts right now and now I see I have to go nut shopping, I am a little low.
Need help shopping or with meal plans, contact Perfect Fit
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