- Make It Yourself Lavender Heart-Shaped Bath Bombs!
- 20 Things You Never Knew About “Down There”
- 12 Best Foods For Those Suffering From Arthritis Pain
- 12 Personal Hygiene Mistakes Almost Everyone Makes (Mom Never Told You About #4!)
- 15 Medicinal Plants And Herbs From The Cherokee People
- 12 Mind-Blowing Benefits Of Drinking Coconut Water During Pregnancy
- 12 Outstanding Winter Foods That Won’t Fatten You Up Like A Christmas Turkey
Proof That Nuts Have Unlimited Health Benefits
Photo credit: bigstock.com
There is a wide variety of nuts. Each has a different makeup, taste, and health benefit. In general, most nuts are good for you in more ways than one. The good news is that it does not take a large serving of nuts for you to reap the health benefits they have to offer. It only takes about 15 pecan halves or two dozen almonds each day to constitute a serving. The key is not in the amount, it is in the consistency. The benefits will be available for as long as you consume the nuts on a daily basis.
You may think you know what a nut is but you will be surprised to find out that there are as many different classes of nuts as there are types. Most nuts are considered a fruit. They start out as a pod that has both the seed and fruit of the plant. A botanical nut is what is referred to when the shell doesn’t open and the seed does not come out. Some examples of this are hazelnuts, acorns, and chestnuts.
Peanuts belong to the legume family, which includes beans and peas. A drupe is a fruit that contains one seed inside just as a cherry or peach does. Unlike those fruits, the seed is consumed rather than the outside of the fruit, such as walnuts, almonds, and pecans.
Nuts are nutritious
An ounce of nuts has under 200 calories, about 5 grams of protein, and 3 grams of fiber. Nuts are rich in many vitamins and minerals including vitamin E, phosphorous, magnesium, copper, selenium, and manganese. The carbohydrate values vary between 2 to 8 grams of digestible carbs per serving.
Nuts are rich in antioxidants
Antioxidants are the components that keep free radicals that naturally occur in our bodies under control. They are fine when they maintain a healthy level but too many can damage your cells and it puts you at risk of contracting serious diseases. Nuts also contain polyphenols which prevent oxidative stress through the neutralization of free radicals preventing them from harming your cells. There is a test that can gauge how much a food is able to fight the free radicals and it is called the ORAC. The study showed that walnuts had an ORAC that was larger than fish.
Continue to Page 2
