Why Nuts are Good Food 

Nut lovers, rejoice :
Science is proving these little gems
can help protect us from disease.

By Stephanie R. Kinnon

ONE OF MY FAVOURITE childhood snacks was a heaping spoonful of peanut butter. I’d lick it like a lollipop until all traces of the delectable butter were gone. As I got older and realized how much fat was in that spoonful, I traded my peanut butter for rice cakes. Years later, I’m not only back to licking peanut butter off a spoon, but I regularly indulge in a handful of nuts, guilt-free, thanks to recent research that shows they can help ward off disease. You still1 can’t eat them by the truckload, but “nuts could substitute for less nutritious foods such as that afternoon muffin or chocolate bar, or cheese and crackers,”  says dietitian Nina Hirvi. While you should limit them to four or five 30-gram serving a week, you’d be nuts not to include them in your diet! Here’s why:

Benefits LOWERING    YOUR CHOLESTEROL	What it Does The polyunsaturated fat in nuts lowers LDL, or bad, cholesterol levels, and their   monounsaturated fat raises good HDL cholesterol levels.	What Nuts to Eat Pecans and almonds
HELPING YOUR HEART	By helping to reduce LDL cholesterol, which eventually leads to atherosclerotic plaque formation and hardening of the arteries, nuts help protect your heart.	Peanuts and walnuts
DEFENDING  AGAINST DIABETES	The fat and nutrients in nuts may improve   glucose and insulin stability in people with  Type 2 diabetes.	Peanuts and walnuts
COUNTERING      CANCER	Nuts could slow the progression of some cancer cells, and helps destroy free radicals that can cause cancer.	Walnuts, pecans   and Brazil nuts
KEEPING TRIM	Nuts have fibre and other nutrients that  interfere with the absorption of fat. And they are satisfying, so people feel fuller longer.	Cashews, macadamia nuts, Brazil nuts, almonds, pecans and walnuts

What studies show

• The more almonds people ate, the lower their levels of LDL cholesterol and the higher their levels of HDL were. Eating 37 grams of almonds a day lowered LDL cholesterol by 4.4 per cent; eating 73 grams a day reduced it by 9.4 per cent.

• People who added a handful of pecans to their daily diets lowered their cholesterol by 11.3 per cent.

• Men who ate nuts at least twice a week had a 47 per cent lower risk of sudden cardiac death and a 30 per cent lower risk of dying from all types of coronary-artery disease than those who didn’t eat nuts.

• Women who ate at least 140 grams of nuts a week were 35 pr cent less likely to suffer heart attacks than women who ate less than 28 grams a month.

• Healthy adults who consumed nuts five or more times a week were 50 per cent less likely to die of a heart attack than those who hardly ever ate nuts.

• Eating nuts has been linked to reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes in women. Those who ate nuts at least five times a week cut their risk of Type 2 diabetes by nearly 30 per cent. Women who regularly ate peanut butter lowered their risk by nearly 20 per cent.

• A form of vitamin E present in walnuts and pecans appears to slow the growth of lung and prostate cancer cells. Gamma-tocopherol attacked the cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone.

• Walnuts also contain melatonin, a hormone that destroys free radicals. Free radicals are unstable compounds that are a by-product of cellular metabolism in our bodies; if they aren’t neutralized, they can cause cardiovascular disease and cancer.

• Brazil nuts contain selenium, an antioxidant that helps neutralize free radicals.

• People who frequently eat nuts are thinner than those who don’t.

• Eating walnuts decrease hunger and cause people to eat less at meals.

• Something to keep in mind: Macadamia nuts and Brazil nuts have the higher fat and calorie content among nuts.

Reader’s Digest, “RD Need to Know”

December 2007