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Back in the old days (say, about five years ago), no nutritionist worth her calorie counter would recommend adding nuts to your diet. High in fat and calories, nuts were a definite no-no. Not anymore.Seems there's barely a nut out there whose health benefits aren't being touted these days. That's because while nuts are relatively high in fat, they're high in unsaturated fats, including omega-3s, and also high in fiber. In recent years numerous studies have linked eating nuts to better heart health and improved cholesterol levels.
In August 2002 a study published in Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association, found that when 27 people with high cholesterol ate one or two handfuls of almonds daily for a month, they reduced their LDL levels between 4.4 and 9.4 percent. Another study found that two handfuls of pecans a day for four weeks lowered LDL by 10 percent. And when it comes to walnuts, researchers found that eating 1.6 ounces a day for six weeks lowered LDL and total cholesterol, and also decreased dangerous low-density LDL 27 percent.
Some nuts may be better for lowering your cholesterol than others. Thus far the best evidence of heart-health promoting properties has been generated for walnuts, followed by almonds.
Be creative when it comes to nuts. For instance:
- Sprinkle them on salads.
- Toast them to bring out their full flavor.
- Chop them and sprinkle them on cereal or mix them into muffin batter.
- Grind them and use as a coating for cooking salmon or chicken.
- Stir them into ice cream (the low-fat kind, of course).
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