Go nuts!
Nuts are good for you. They are full of protein, the right kind of fats and make for a great snack when you are trying to lose weight.
Forget the salted peanuts though. Too much salt. not good.
Same goes for the ones coated in tasty stuff, often chilli type coatings. Stick with good old basic, plain fresh nuts.
Some research demonstrated a 60% reduction in risks of heart attacks for regular nut eaters. The previous advice always tended to emphasise avoiding nuts because they were high in fat. Well, eating nuts will lower the risk of heart disease, lower LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) and overall provide good nutrition.
Almonds are the best. They contain all those goodies such as the trace elements such as magnesium, manganese, copper and so on. Lots of vitamin E and loads of monounsaturated fats. This is great news. Given the protein and fat level in them, they help stave of hunger by providing a slow energy release. they are relatively cheap to buy too.
Walnuts are fairly amazing and are loaded with omega-3 oil, the stuff that is allegedly good for your brain. Omega-three in walnuts is also allegedly really good for skin health too.
Pecans, the Rolls Royce of nuts are cheaper than they used to be owing to their increased popularity.
Cashews. Also cheap to buy these nuts have all the other good stuff and also good amounts of oleic acid, the same stuff that makes olive oil good for you.
So, go nuts. Oh, and don't do that stupid thing that people do whereby they toss the nut in the air and catch it in their mouths. People die doing this when the nuts score a direct hit and travels directly down the trachea without touching the side. Peanuts are the most common cause of choking deaths, far ahead of deaths from ballpoint pens.
So, health and safety warnings aside, go buy lots of nuts and have these form part of your diet food. They are low in simple carbohydrates. Here are some nutritional values for you.
Almonds
- 8.1% carbohydrate
- 23.4% protein
- 54.8% fat
- 8.4% fibre
Cashews
- 18.8% carbohydrate
- 15.7% protein
- 48.9% fat
- 3.4% fibre
Hazelnuts
- 5.8% carbohydrate
- 28.5% protein
- 53% fat
- 6.2% fibre
Check your local markets and wholesales before buying in bulk from the supermarket to get the best price and value.