I always suggest nuts as a snack. They provide many different vitamins, minerals and healthy fats. Yes nuts have fat in them, but most nuts are full of the good fats and lower in the bad fats. If you know me, then you know I’m about low carb and not low fat diets.
Griel et al, showed that supplementing the diet for 4- weeks with nuts has tremendous benefits on lipid profiles, especially LDL cholesterol. They concluded that not only was the mono and polyunsaturated fats important in lowering cholesterol, but that nuts may have other compounds that help alter the cholesterol levels.
Jiang et al, concluded that a diet rich in nuts can also help reduce the risk of developing Diabetes. One of the bigger concerns in this study was the level of obesity of the participants, because obesity is a higher indicator of risk for developing diabetes, but they found that increasing dietary intake of nuts did not alter body weight at all.
What about allergies?
If you are allergic to nuts, you are s@#* out of luck, and will obviously need to avoid them.
What about weight gain?
Sure, extra weight gain can occur from eating too many nuts – remember I’m recommending nuts as a snack, not making a meal out of them. To me a snack means around 15.
Typical nuts have higher than normal levels of the good fats, which are mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Nuts are lower in saturated fats, which are the fat’s that lead to altered cholesterol levels and excess weight gain.
Not only do nuts have the potential to help lower cholesterol and prevent metabolic disorders, but nuts can also have a satiety effect on the body. Satiety refers to the satisfaction that happens when we eat a meal and feel full or satisfied.
Nuts should be a staple in everyone’s diets (except of course people who have severe allergic reactions to nuts) for the cardio-protective effects of the healthy fat levels, the satisfaction of ingesting a healthy snack and finally the potential benefits.
I recommend Macadamia nuts and marcona almonds – relax, be primal!
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