While you probably already know how great heart healthy nuts taste, what you may not realize is how healthy they are for you. You’ll find that nuts include important nutrients and fats that our body needs, and they provide a variety of great health benefits.
Some of the heart healthy nuts that you may want to add to your diet include walnuts, almonds, pecans, pistachios, cashew, macadamias, and peanuts. Here is a closer look at these nuts as well as how they can help keep your heart healthier.
Walnuts
Probably the top choice among healthy nuts happens to be the walnut. These nuts are full of excellent vitamins and minerals that your body needs. Just a few of the minerals you’ll find in this nut include manganese, zinc, copper, calcium, and iron. Walnuts also provide vitamins like B1,2,3,6, vitamin E, and pantothenic acid. Walnuts are known for helping to keep blood sugar levels controlled and also can help to improve the function of your heart. Unsaturated fats and omega 3 fatty acids help to lower cholesterol and improve heart health, which is a great reason to add walnuts to your diet on a regular basis.
Almonds
Another of the heart healthy nuts you should be eating is the almond. Cholesterol control is one of the many benefits that this nut has to offer. Eating almonds on a regular basis has been found to reduce the risk of heart attack. There are many phytochemicals in almonds, which provide a variety of health benefits. They help to detoxify the body and keep the immune system functioning correctly. Eating a handful 4-5 times a week can help you enjoy these benefits.
Pecans
Pecans are full of many vitamins and are another of the heart healthy nuts out there. There are more than 19 different vitamins found in this nut. Vitamins and minerals in pecans include B vitamins, folic acid, vitamin A, vitamin E, magnesium, calcium, potassium, zinc, and more. Recent studies also show that these nuts can help to lower bad cholesterol levels as well, clearing the arteries out and reducing the risk of heart disease.
Pistachios
Most people don’t realize that pistachios are also heart healthy nuts and have numerous health benefits. They have a high amount of dietary fiber, as well as phosphorus, copper, thiamin, and vitamin B6. They also include important phytoseterols that are known to help protect against certain cancers and also help to lower your levels of cholesterol. They are a great plant source of protein as well, and have a lot of arginine, which can help to reduce heart disease too.
Cashews
Cashews happen to be one of the most popular nuts, and they are more than just tasty. Cashews contain oleic acid, which is also found in olive oil. This is a heart healthy fat that helps to prevent heart disease. Along with oleic acid, cashews also contain biotin, copper, zinc, magnesium, and iron, which are all important to your body.
Macadamias
Studies are showing that macadamias are also heart healthy nuts, helping to lower cholesterol. They have a high amount of good fats, which helps to lower cholesterol. In fact, it has a higher amount of good fat than olive oil does. Flavonoids are also contained in macadamias, as well as vitamin E. These are both excellent antioxidants that can help prevent heart disease and cancer. Other great vitamins include are niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, and vitamin A. Omega 3s are also included, which help to lower blood pressure and further reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
These are just a few of the heart healthy nuts out there that you should start adding to your diet. Since nuts have a lot of calories, it is best to only eat a small amount. However, a small serving on a regular basis can definitely be excellent for preventing heart disease and other medical problems. Adding regular servings of these nuts to your diet, along with exercise and stress reduction, such as meditating, is an excellent way to work to prevent heart problems in your future.
