Emerging evidence over the last 3 decades have reported on the prevention and risk-reduction of heart disease and type 2 diabetes through the consumption of nuts.\u00a0 Previously, doctors had cautioned against eating nuts, stating that they are high in fat content which could increase cholesterol and contribute to weight gain and obesity.\u00a0 It is now apparent that eating a handful of nuts each day can have the opposite effects.\u00a0 Research has shown that nuts contain heart-healthy unsaturated fats that lower total cholesterol, including \u201cbad\u201d\u00a0low-density lipoprotein\u00a0(LDL) cholesterol, thereby reducing one\u2019s risk for heart disease.\u00a0 This omega-3\u00a0fatty acid, called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), is converted in the body into the heart-healthy fats that are present in the fish oil of fatty cold-water fish.\u00a0 ALA is also contained in soybean and cannabis.<\/p>\n
A U.S. Physician\u2019s Health Study was published in Reuters in June of 2002.\u00a0 This was a co-study between Brigham and Women\u2019s Hospital and\u00a0Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass.\u00a0 This\u00a0investigation involved 21,454 male doctors, aged 40-84, who were followed for 17 years.\u00a0 Those doctors (80%) who ingested at least 1 ounce (about a handful) of nuts twice a week nearly halved their mortality or death rate from sudden heart attacks compared to those doctors (20%) who rarely or never ate nuts.\u00a0 Also, mortality as a result of complications from coronary heart disease was reduced by 30%.\u00a0 The higher the consumption of nuts, the lower was the risk for any heart-related deaths, even after adjusting for age, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, diabetes, exercise, and alcohol intake.<\/p>\n
A study published in Circulation in Sept. 2002 explained that substituting nuts for other nutritious snacks was beneficial in decreasing low density\u00a0lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.\u00a0 Researchers at the Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Center at St. Michael\u2019s Hospital in Toronto, Canada, tested 27 men and women with an average age of 64.\u00a0 For 3 months, their diets consisted of\u00a0a similar number of calories.\u00a0 During the 1st month, they ate 2 handfuls of almonds per day.\u00a0 Upon testing, their LDL cholesterol decreased by 9.4%.\u00a0 For the 2nd month, they consumed 1 handful of almonds and half of a low-fat whole-wheat muffin.\u00a0 Their LDL cholesterol\u00a0was reduced by 4.4%.\u00a0 In the 3rd month, they ate an entire muffin and no almonds.\u00a0 Tests showed no change in cholesterol levels.<\/p>\n
While it\u00a0has been\u00a0believed that the unsaturated fats in nuts are responsible for the cholesterol lowering, the vegetable protein in almonds may also be contributive.\u00a0 By weight, almonds have as much protein as they have fat.<\/p>\n
Researchers at Harvard University\u2019s School of Public Health presented an analysis showing that partaking in peanuts daily could stave off the emergence of type 2 diabetes.\u00a0 They published their findings in the Journal of American Medical Association in Nov. 2002.\u00a0 Their study involved 83,818 female nurses, aged 34 to 59, whom were followed for 16 years.\u00a0 Those who ate a handful of peanuts (1 oz.) or 1 tablespoon of peanut butter at least 5 times per week were up to 30% less likely to develop diabetes than those who rarely or never ate peanuts.<\/p>\n
Although peanuts are classified as legumes, they offer as strong a reduction in mortality risk as do tree nuts. The provided protection comes from healthy unsaturated fats, fiber, and magnesium in the peanut.\u00a0 The fiber and magnesium especially aid in maintaining the\u00a0glucose and insulin levels in a controlled balance, thereby preventing the onset of diabetes.\u00a0 Avoid peanut butter that contains high amounts of sugar or fatty preservatives.<\/p>\n
In 2015, studies from\u00a0different continents\u00a0were compared with each other in order to assess the benefits of peanut consumption.\u00a0 The Shanghai Women and Men Health Studies in China and the Southern Community Cohort Study in the U.S. looked at the association between peanut intake and\u00a0a reduction in deaths from cardiovascular disease and total mortality in low-income populations.\u00a0 Those tested were 70,000 Americans of African and European descent and 130,000 Chinese.\u00a0 Results showed\u00a0 a decrease in cardiovascular deaths of 23% \u2013 38% and decreased total mortality of 17% \u2013 21% .\u00a0 This data was consistent among the different racial groups.<\/p>\n
Other nuts with heart-healthy fats include pecans and macadamia nuts; those which have been roasted in hydrogenated oil and coated with salt are not healthful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Emerging evidence over the last 3 decades have reported on the prevention and risk-reduction of heart disease and type 2 diabetes through the consumption of nuts.\u00a0 Previously, doctors had cautioned against eating nuts, stating that they are high in fat content which could increase cholesterol and contribute to weight gain and obesity.\u00a0 It is now […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluecybermedia.com\/chiropractic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluecybermedia.com\/chiropractic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluecybermedia.com\/chiropractic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluecybermedia.com\/chiropractic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluecybermedia.com\/chiropractic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bluecybermedia.com\/chiropractic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100,"href":"https:\/\/bluecybermedia.com\/chiropractic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98\/revisions\/100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluecybermedia.com\/chiropractic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluecybermedia.com\/chiropractic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluecybermedia.com\/chiropractic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluecybermedia.com\/chiropractic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}