4 Health Benefits of why you should eat nuts
Nuts are very popular in all parts of the world. In fact you can readily agree that they are tasty, convenient and can be enjoyed on all kinds of diets.
Despite being high in fat, they also have a number of impressive benefits for your health (and weight). Nuts are technically considered a fruit. However, unlike most types of fruit, they aren’t sweet and are high in fat.
They contain a hard, inedible outer shell that usually needs to be cracked open to release the fruit inside. Here are just few examples of nuts Almonds, Brazil nuts, Cashews, Hazelnuts, Macadamia nuts, Pecans, Pine nuts, Pistachios, Walnuts and many more others.
Lets now look at four reasons why nuts are good for you.
1. Nuts Are Loaded With Antioxidants
Antioxidants help control free radicals, which are unstable molecules produced as a normal part of metabolism. Free radical production increases in response to heavy sun exposure, stress, pollution and other causes.
Although free radicals can play a beneficial role in immune response, having too many can lead to cell damage. When your level of free radicals is too high, your body is said to be in a state of oxidative stress, which increases disease risk.
The antioxidants in plant foods, including the polyphenols found in nuts, can combat oxidative stress by neutralizing free radicals so they can’t harm your cells.
The ORAC is a test that measures a food’s capacity to fight free radicals. One study found that the ORAC of walnuts was greater than that of fish.
Research has shown that the antioxidants in walnuts and almonds can protect the delicate fats in your cells from being damaged by oxidation.
2. Nuts Can Help You Lose Weight
Although they’re considered a high-calorie food, research suggests that nuts may actually help you lose weight. One large study called the PREDIMED study assessed the effects of the Mediterranean diet.
Analysis of data from a subgroup of the study found that those assigned to eat nuts lost an average of 2 inches (5 cm) from their waists, which is significantly more than those assigned to eat olive oil.
Almonds have consistently been shown to promote weight loss rather than weight gain in controlled studies. One study found that pistachios may also be helpful for weight loss.
In one study of overweight women, those who consumed almonds lost nearly three times as much weight and experienced a significantly greater decrease in waist size compared to the control group.
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