Continuing with the “American Hearth Month” theme for February I continue with heart disease issues on this and my other blog NewMexicoWellness.blogspot.com. Here continues the discussion of heart healthy foods.
Nuts tend to scare people off due to their high fat content. While nuts are high in fat (and in calories) the primary fat in most popular nuts is the healthy kind – unsaturated fat.
Unsaturated fats, the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, which have mostly positive benefits on your cholesterol (meaning lower LDL, and improved HDL) is a good thing.
What else is in nuts that are good for your heart? It is a plant, so it has fiber. A high fiber diet helps lower cholesterol and which reduces risk of heart disease. Nuts have vitamin E and selenium, which are antioxidants. Antioxidants can help prevent the aging of the arteries and keep them elastic as well as helping reduce the risk of blood clots.
And when referring to nuts, this includes walnuts, almonds, pistachios, pecans, pine nuts, hazelnuts (aka filberts) macadamias, and peanuts (even though it is technically a legume). You can also include seeds as well and get some health benefits from them, such as sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and flax seeds.
Coconut is a nut, but is full of saturated fat, which is not good for your heart. It raises LDL cholesterol and can be truly unhealthy when consumed on a regular basis.
Now keep this in mind – when integrating nuts in your diet, make sure you are replacing them for something else in your diet and not adding them. One servings or one-ounce of nuts is about 180 calories (one small handful or about ¼ cup). So, if you started adding that every day without taking something away – could add 15-20 pounds over the course of a year! You have got to make sure you are adding them in after you take something out.
Oh yes, and if it is covered in chocolate or salt, it’s not so healthy for you, so go for the plain nuts! Save a chocolate covered nut for a special occasion and make sure it is dark chocolate too.
Eat Well, Live Well, and Be Well – with a handful of unsalted nuts.
Nuts tend to scare people off due to their high fat content. While nuts are high in fat (and in calories) the primary fat in most popular nuts is the healthy kind – unsaturated fat.
Unsaturated fats, the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, which have mostly positive benefits on your cholesterol (meaning lower LDL, and improved HDL) is a good thing.
What else is in nuts that are good for your heart? It is a plant, so it has fiber. A high fiber diet helps lower cholesterol and which reduces risk of heart disease. Nuts have vitamin E and selenium, which are antioxidants. Antioxidants can help prevent the aging of the arteries and keep them elastic as well as helping reduce the risk of blood clots.
And when referring to nuts, this includes walnuts, almonds, pistachios, pecans, pine nuts, hazelnuts (aka filberts) macadamias, and peanuts (even though it is technically a legume). You can also include seeds as well and get some health benefits from them, such as sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and flax seeds.
Coconut is a nut, but is full of saturated fat, which is not good for your heart. It raises LDL cholesterol and can be truly unhealthy when consumed on a regular basis.
Now keep this in mind – when integrating nuts in your diet, make sure you are replacing them for something else in your diet and not adding them. One servings or one-ounce of nuts is about 180 calories (one small handful or about ¼ cup). So, if you started adding that every day without taking something away – could add 15-20 pounds over the course of a year! You have got to make sure you are adding them in after you take something out.
Oh yes, and if it is covered in chocolate or salt, it’s not so healthy for you, so go for the plain nuts! Save a chocolate covered nut for a special occasion and make sure it is dark chocolate too.
Eat Well, Live Well, and Be Well – with a handful of unsalted nuts.
No comments:
Post a Comment