Healthy Bytes

Crack open some nuts

read time: about 2 minutes

Nuts are a nutrient dense food - high in protein, low in carbs and a good source of fiber.

Folks tend to avoid nuts because they’re also high in fat. True, BUT 90% of the fat is mono- and poly-unsaturated fat… the good fats. They’re also cholesterol free.

Nuts are also a great source of minerals such as: biotin, calcium, copper, folate, manganese, magnesium, niacin, phosophrous, potassium, riboflavin, selenium, thiamin, zinc, Vitamin E and phytonutrients.

Add some of these to your day instead of reaching for those high carb snacks:

Almonds - good amounts of protein, calcium, magnesium, niacin, riboflavin and one ounce will give you 35% of your daily value of Vitamin E.

Cashews - high in magnesium.

Hazelnuts/Filberts - high in calcium, Vitamin E and fiber.

Pecans - high in protein and good source of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and thiamin. Also a good source of oleic acid.
Pecans are high in gamma tocopherol - the form of Vitamin E that is particularly good suppressing oxidation and preventing free radical damage.
Walnuts - great source of alpha-linolenic acid, a precursor of Omega-3’s (one ounce will give you your daily value). Very good antioxidants. Source of Arginine which helps make nitric oxide. This increase blood vessel dilation and blood flow… good for the heart. Source of Ellagic acid, a flavonoid which has been shown to inhibit cancer cell growth.

Brazil nuts - one of very few foods that are high in Selenium (one ouce will give you 780% of your daily value). Also a good source of calcium, magnesium, phosphorous and potassium.

This entry was posted on Fri, 20.Oct.2006 at 2:48 pm and is filed under Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.