Amazing Health Benefits and Uses Of Nuts

Amazing Health Benefits and Uses Of Nuts

Heart Healthy
Certain nuts can help to keep your heart healthy.  A study 
conducted by the Center for Health Research, School of Public 
Health, Loma Linda University, California, in 1992, investigated
if nut consumption was associated with a lowered risk of 
coronary heart disease. The researchers examined 31,208 non-
Hispanic white members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church 
and kept track of their daily eating habits.

Researchers discovered that those who ate nuts more than 4 
times per week had fewer episodes of coronary heart disease. 
The researchers concluded that it was the "healthy" fatty acids 
contained in the nuts that help heart health.  

Which nuts are best for heart health? Walnuts have one of the 
highest concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids. In addition to 
walnuts, the Food and Drug Administration also recommends 
almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, some pine nuts and 
pistachio nuts for  a healthy heart.

Walnuts and hazelnuts, uniquely among nuts, contain high 
amounts of a phenol compounds which have been linked to 
lower heart disease, according to a 2013 joint study from the 
University of Parma in Italy and the University of Reading in the 
UK. These phenols are related to gallic acid and are called 
"elligitannins".

Just 4 walnuts provide 400 milligrams of elligitanins, about as 
much as you would get in a glass of pomegranate juice.

Lower Your Risk of Diabetes
Try eating almonds to fight diabetes. Almonds actually help to 
prevent Type 2 diabetes, according to a study conducted by 
Department of Foods and Nutrition, College of Home Science, 
India in 2009.  How many almonds should you eat to fight 
diabetes?  The optimal amount is 10 grams, about a half a 
handful. Consuming 10g of almonds lowered fasting blood 
sugar by 26 mg/dL in the study.


Peanuts also help to prevent diabetes. A 2002 study conducted 
by the Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard 
School of Public Health, in 2002 found that peanuts can 
prevent type II diabetes. The subjects consumed around 20g 
of peanuts per day to achieve the desired results of lowered 
blood sugar similar to the above mentioned study.

Reduce Your Blood Pressure
Can nuts lower your blood pressure? Absolutely. The National 
Institutes of Health recommend nuts to reduce blood pressure 
due to the fact that nuts contain healthy fats.

Cashews can lower your blood pressure.  A study conducted by
the Northwestern University in Chicago, in 2007, found that 
nuts can reduce blood pressure by as much as 70%. Cashews 
contain magnesium which can help maintain healthy blood 
pressure. Cashews contain around 75mg of magnesium, which 
is 19% of  your recommended daily allowance of 400mg per 
day.

Update: You would have to eat about a half a cup of cashews 
to obtain 25% of the recommended daily amount of 
magnesium.

Other nuts that are high in magnesium are walnuts and 
almonds.

Cancer-Fighting Properties
Walnuts may help reduce not only the risk of prostate cancer, but breast cancer as well. In one study, mice that ate the human equivalent of 2.4 ounces of whole walnuts for 18 weeks had significantly smaller and slower-growing prostate tumors compared to the control group that consumed the same amount of fat but from other sources.

Overall the whole walnut diet reduced prostate cancer growth by 30 to 40 percent. According to another study on mice, the human equivalent of just two handfuls of walnuts a day cut breast cancer risk in half, and slowed tumor growth by 50 percent as well.1

 Rare and Powerful Antioxidants
Antioxidants are crucial to your health, as they are believed to help control how fast you age by combating free radicals, which are at the heart of age-related deterioration.

Walnuts contain several unique and powerful antioxidants that are available in only a few commonly eaten foods. This includes the quinone juglone, the tannin tellimagrandin, and the flavonol morin.6

Walnuts contain antioxidants that are so powerful at free-radical scavenging that researchers called them "remarkable,"7 and research has shown that walnut polyphenols may help prevent chemically-induced liver damage.8

In another study, researchers found that nuts, especially walnuts, have potent antioxidant powers. Walnut polyphenols had the best efficacy among the nuts tested and also the highest lipoprotein-bound antioxidant activity. The researchers concluded:9

Brain Health
Walnuts contain a number of neuroprotective compounds, including vitamin E, folate, melatonin, omega-3 fats, and antioxidants. Research shows walnut consumption may support brain health, including increasing inferential reasoning in young adults.13

One study also found that consuming high-antioxidant foods like walnuts "can decrease the enhanced vulnerability to oxidative stress that occurs in aging," "increase health span," and also "enhance cognitive and motor function in aging.

Lower Cholesterol
Here again, walnuts are the nut of choice.  A study conducted 
by Barcelona's Hospital Clinico in 2006 found that walnuts 
were even better than olive oil at reducing cholesterol. The 
researchers tested the difference between the two when added 
to a high fat meal. The researchers found that, unlike olive oil, 
walnuts helped the elasticity of arteries and therefore lessened 
the amount of cholesterol that formed.

So, grab a handful of walnuts to keep your arteries from 

hardening and to lower your cholesterol.