Go Nuts for Heart Health

By Katie Leavitt, Tonic

As if we need more reason to munch on a handful of tasty nuts, there is now evidence that eating them each day can help prevent heart disease by lowering cholesterol.

The study, published Monday in the American Medical Association’s Archives of Internal Medicine, showed that those who ate 67 grams (2.4 ounces) daily lowered their blood cholesterol by 5.1 percent, with a 7.4 percent drop in the specifically bad kind, low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and a whopping 10.2 percent in triglyceride levels.

Nuts don’t seem to be discriminatory, either. Walnuts, almonds, whatever your nut of choice may be, the same cholesterol-lowering benefits were found. However, the results were greater in those who were not overweight, as people with lower BMIs showed a more significant reduction. On the flip side, those with higher LDL levels to begin with also showed a larger drop than those with healthier starting levels.

For those concerned about type 2 diabetes, nuts apparently help prevent that, too. Yet possibly the best news of all, for those who have sadly shunned nuts because of their high fat content, the frequent consumption of nuts, alone, won’t make you gain weight when eaten as part of an otherwise healthy diet.

“Research has shown that frequent nut consumption does not lead to weight gain,” said the study, as reported by the AFP via Yahoo! News. “Increasing the consumption of nuts as part of an otherwise prudent diet can be expected to favorably affect blood lipid levels … and have the potential to lower coronary heart disease risk.”

Photo credit: Creative Commons photo by steffenz

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Monika K.

3:31AM PST on Jan 8, 2012

Great.

send a green star

Samanta Z.

4:10PM PDT on Jun 27, 2010

thanks

Elisabeth T.

4:30AM PDT on Jun 25, 2010

good article, thank you...

Chinmayee J.

11:56PM PDT on Jun 24, 2010

Thanks for sharing, I didn't know this. I try to eat a handful of nuts everyday, apparently almonds and walnuts are the healthiest!

Kamakshi R.

11:57AM PDT on Jun 22, 2010

Thanks a lot

Gita S.

12:56AM PDT on Jun 22, 2010

The most wonderful news I have ever read ! Lowers cholesterol, helps Diabetics, no weight increase, what else one want when one is crazy about nuts? May be parasite eggs are the reason of the enhanced taste of most of them

Vicky L.

6:27PM PDT on Jun 21, 2010

Love nuts. You are what you eat! Tree nuts are best. But peanuts aren't really nuts and have different nutritional value (not the same fatty acids, more carbs) because they're legumes.

Michael M.

1:18PM PDT on Jun 21, 2010

Barbara L.

1:01PM PDT on Jun 21, 2010

Eating them also keeps me fuller longer

Teresa W.

7:56AM PDT on Jun 21, 2010

Besides, nuts are full of parasite eggs.