A healthy snack that helps you lose belly fat too...

Today's post: Tuesday, 12-9-2008

I once read that one study of people who ate nuts found that they lived more than five years longer than people who don’t.

(Clearly those people who are severely allergic to tree nuts were not in that group.)

However, that definitely got my attention because only quitting smoking or doing a first rate exercise program each week get comparable results in increased likely longevity.

And, I’ve known that nuts have natural vitamin E and magnesium that some people need but wouldn’t otherwise get. (Everyone needs these nutrients but not everyone gets them from their food or from supplements. So people who eat nuts tend to be healthier for that reason.)

I also have known that nuts contain sterols and fiber that help to lower LDL cholesterol without side effects.

Further, I’ve known that people who eat nuts as snacks do NOT tend to gain weight despite the high fat content of nuts. It seems the combination of fats, protein, nutrients, and fiber in nuts turns down your appetite well enough that you tend to eat less of other foods to compensate.

I’ve read that eating nuts tends to increase your levels of the desirable HDL cholesterol as well.

Lastly, the Prevention Magazine book the Flat Belly Diet states that people who eat mostly monosaturated oils such as those found in nuts, avocados, and extra virgin olive oil tend to have less belly fat.

Just recently, a study done in Spain was reported which found even more healthful effects from eating nuts, walnuts, almonds, and hazelnuts each day in addition to a Mediterranean diet.

The people who did that in this study actually lost belly fat even though they lost no weight; they improved their heart risk factors including getting lower triglycerides I think;
and those that had high blood pressure found they got lower readings.

One commentator pointed out that anyone who not only ate nuts; but who ate nuts instead of candy, or chips, or other packaged snacks or commercially baked dessert foods like cookies likely got a double benefit. Not only did eating the nuts help; but it turned off sources such as high fructose corn syrup, sugar, refined grains, salt, and Transfats that are known to have the reverse effects.

Since this study was done in a population that is less likely to eat such bad for you snacks than people in the United States, it’s my belief that having people here who eat these other kinds of snacks eat unsalted nuts instead would get even more dramatic benefits.

And, it may well be that the other nutrients in the nuts besides the monosaturated oils may have some extra benefits because the group that ate the nuts did even better on the health measures than the group who simply got extra olive oil each week.

In addition to vitamin E, magnesium, other minerals, and sterols – and the plant protein with no cholesterol and the fiber, nuts are high in potassium and the amino acid l-arginine. Both of those nutrients help to lower blood pressure when it’s high. For example, by eating unsalted nuts that are high in potassium, eating the nuts favorably improved the potassium-sodium balance which is known to help reduce high blood pressure.

Pecans also work as well as walnuts and almonds in my experience and are widely available in the United States.

It also helps that walnuts and dry roasted walnuts taste good. Dry roasted almonds taste good. And pecans, even untoasted, taste great.

That means they make a great snack.

A snack that both tastes great AND makes you healthier and likely to have a long healthy life, is a real asset to have.

I have excellent HDL, LDL, & triglyceride readings. And I think that one reason for this is that I eat nuts as part of my weekday lunches each day. And I do NOT eat the bad for you snack foods ever. (I do eat some dark chocolate each week or taste part of one serving of a treat I know I like if they show up at our office but less than five times a year. And that’s it.)