A Handful of Nuts Make a Complete Diet

by sherly mathew
(india)

Do you go nuts over a handful of almonds or pistachios, but worry that these nuts will bring excess fat and calories in your diet? If this is true then you are not alone in your thought.

In the nutrition world nuts play a valuable role, in one hand they provide a concentrated source of nutrients as on the other hand they are loaded with fat and calories which can make your diet filled up with excess calories, right?
Wrong you are, in your thought.

While nuts provide a good concentrated source of nutrients, but still they can serve a delicious item in your plate. The intake of nuts completes your food plan for maintaining good health. Do you know the nutritional value they have? Nuts are rich in fiber, protein, calcium, folate, zinc, selenium, magnesium and vitamin E.

Nuts also have zero cholesterol and some nuts, such as walnuts, contain omega-3 fatty acids which may be especially protective against heart disease and stroke. Although ounce for ounce nuts do have a higher fat content than many other foods, most of this fat is unsaturated fat, which promotes heart health and helps to lower cholesterol.

Nuts contain the seeds of the plant and so it is obvious that they are packed with nutrition. They serve to supplement the nutrients provided by many cereals and vegetables in your diet.

Pistachio nuts are well known for their high nutritional value. Its kernels are rich in fat with high content of fatty acids that are essential in human diet.

Linolelic, linoleic and oleic acids are again the contents of those fatty acids which act miraculously to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood.

Aren't you stunned to know about this? Our age old feeling is that we have to reduce consumption of fat if we have high cholesterol level. Do you know nuts contain more magnesium and copper than milk, bread and potatoes?

It is rich in proteins, minerals, iron, phosphorus, zinc, vitamins A, B, E. They also serve as an antioxidant.

We all eat almonds but what is its nutritional value that most of us donot know. Calcium an important mineral that is required for bone formation and neurological function is found in significant amount in almonds.

A large amount of magnesium which is an essential part of many enzyme systems and is also important in maintaining the electrical potential of nerve and muscle membranes is found in almonds. Sodium is a macronutrient and constitutes two percent of the total mineral content of the body.

This mineral is vital in maintaining the body fluid volume, osmotic equilibrium and acid-base balance. Deficiency of sodium occurs during hot weather or as a result of heavy work in hot climate. Iron is a constituent of hemoglobin, myoglobin, and a number of enzymes, which catalyse oxidation, and reduction processes in the cell.

Anemia is causes due to diet deficient in iron, protein and the vitamins folate, B-1, B-6 and C, or poor absorption over long periods.

The present study on tropical almond nut shows that the nut contains some levels of iron which can supplement other sources of dietary iron. According to World Health Organization, 0.88gm of protein per kg should be intake by children of age between one to ten years.

But one thing that should be kept in mind while taking pistachios is its aflatoxins contamination. Tree nuts like almonds, pistachio, and walnuts all have aflatoxin content.

Though nowadays high measures have been taken to reduce or eradicate aflatoxin content from nuts. But do not stuck on only one kind of nut, try experimenting with other types or a mixed of all types of nuts for exposure to all of the different healthcare nutrients that different nuts provide. The possibilities are endless, so get cracking!