Everybody Needs to be a Little Bit Nuts!
If the you’ve been avoiding eating nuts as a weight management strategy, it may be time to rethink your plan.
A nutrition powerhouse, nuts are packed with fiber, heart healthy fat, and protein to satisfy hunger. This makes any of your favorite nuts a welcome addition to a healthy weight loss eating plan.
An added bonus-consuming nuts on a regular basis can help lower blood pressure. Research conducted by the U.S. National Institutes of Health found that people who consumed nuts 4-5 times per week as part of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, were able to significantly lower their blood pressure. For some people, the blood pressure lowering effects were enough to allow them to stop taking their blood pressure medication.
When thinking about adding nuts to your diet, a little goes a long way. A serving size of nuts is only one ounce. This is a small handful, equivalent to approximately 20 nuts or about a quarter cup. In other words, if you’re watching calories, don’t eat them straight from the package.
While nuts are a great snack, they also make a welcome addition to whole grain cereal, yogurt, and salads.
When choosing nuts, aim for nuts without added salt or sugar. Because nuts contain fat (the heart healthy kind), they are prone to spoil. Keep your nuts longer by storing them in the refrigerator once they have been opened.
Eating nuts regularly is part of a whole food, anti-inflammatory eating plan. Whatever you do, go ahead, get nuts-It's all that it's cracked up to be!
