Nutty Nutrition

I was doing some research online and came across the chart you see below. I had been talking with a client of mine about including nuts in her diet just the day before. She was concerned (as I think most people are) that nuts were too “fattening” to eat at all, let alone on a daily basis. Quite the contrary. Let me tell you why:

Nuts contain low levels of saturated fats and high levels of unsaturated fats. They  are high in fiber, vitamin E, folic acid, copper, magnesium and arginine (an amino acid), each of which play a role in preventing heart disease.  As a result, studies have shown that daily nut consumption lowers blood cholesterol levels. It ‘s a no brainer that lowering your cholesterol levels lowers your risk of heart disease as well.

Need more reasons to put nuts on your shopping list? Eating nuts regularly also lowers your risk of stroke, developing type 2 diabetes, advanced macular degeneration, dementia and suffering from gallstones. In addition, nuts are the best dietary source of manganese which combined with the plant sterols they contain, reduce cholesterol absorption from food. Bonus!

Check out the chart below to see how your favorites stack up:

Source: Adapted from the International Tree Nut Council Research and Education Foundation publications, Nutrients in 1 Ounce of Tree Nuts and Peanuts, January 2003.