Nuts Contain Healthy Fats That Are Good For You
One simple step on the path to healthy living is to add the nuts to your diet. All types of nuts make it to any list of superfoods. One recent study
by the Harvard Medical School suggests that nuts are healthy nutritional powerhouses which
can help lower cholesterol and add heart-healthy fats to your diet.
Nutritious Nuts contain:
- Mono and polyunsaturated fats
Benefits of nuts ingredients include:
Not all fats are bad. The "good fats", Mono and polyunsaturated fats, benefit the heart by inhibiting fatty acid absorption in the arteries, Vitamin E helps protect arteries from fatty build-up and folate lowers homocysteine levels in blood. High homocysteine levels are one predictor of heart disease.
Prevention Magazine recently published "The Belly Fat Diet" which advocates adding nuts, with their monounsaturated fatty acids, to your diet to help shed stubborn fat in the stomach area.
Other studies have shown that eating a small handful of nuts each day can actually promote weight loss.
The Calcium, magnesium and potassium in nuts also helps to lower blood pressure.
Choose dry-roasted nuts. Roasted nuts often contain unhealthy trans-fats if partially hydrogenated oils are used in the roasting process. Trans-fats block arteries and sabotage weight loss efforts.
As little as two ounces of nuts per week appears to help lower the risk of heart disease, the study says.A Loma Linda School of Public Health study showed those who consumed nuts five times a week had a 50% reduction in risk of heart attack.
Nuts are fairly high in calories. However, for those snacking on fat-laden, unhealthy chips, for instance, nuts can be a nutritious substitute. The fiber in nuts is filling as opposed to the empty calories contained in chips, which satisfies hunger and leads to decreased consumption of overall daily calories.
Even for those trying to lose weight, nuts are a nutritious way to add protein and fiber to your diet, which are necessary for any weight loss effort.
Shelled nuts can be stored in the freezer to preserve freshness. Add chopped nuts to recipes or eat a handful for a snack.
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