Eating Nuts Every Day Is Good For Your Health

Recent studies carried out by the University of Rovira i Virgili in Spain, have shown that consuming more nuts is very healthy. With more and more people suffering from various metabolic syndromes, such as high blood pressure, obesity and cholesterol problems, there is an urgent need to quickly improve the diets of millions. The modest nut could be the answer.

The Spanish study actually consumed a Mediterranean diet which consisted of fresh fruit, vegetables, fish and a selection of nuts every day. This diet boosted health in more than 12% of the at-risk volunteers.

People with metabolic syndrome have a much higher risk of heart disease. In the study group, the volunteers were split in to groups and some taught about low fat diets, some about the Mediterranean diet, and some were just given a 30g bag of mixed nuts every day.

The study lasted for one full year, after which the volunteers had a medical. Approximately 2% of the group who were told about low-fat diets had improved to the extent that they were no longer classed as having
metabolic syndrome. Among those following a Mediterranean diet including olive oil, the figure rose to 6.7%. Finally, 13.7% of those eating their daily bag of nuts as well as the Mediterranean diet had improved.

Even though none of the participants weight had dropped significantly over the year, waist circumferences had diminished in the nut-eating group, and cholesterol and blood pressure levels had dropped. This means that nuts can help to lose belly fat.

“The results of the study show that a non-energy restricted traditional Mediterranean diet enriched with nuts, which is high in fat, high in unsaturated fat and palatable, is a useful tool in managing metabolic syndrome.” Dr Jordi Salas-Salvado, lead researcher

The British Dietetic Association gave the following warning in response to the finding:

“You can’t just sit on the sofa this Christmas and eat nuts – you should be making sure that if you add this many calories to you diet, you should take them out somewhere else if possible. And this probably only refers to tree nuts, such as hazelnuts and almonds, rather than peanuts, which aren’t actually a nut at all. People should also be careful not eat too may salted nuts, as that certainly is no good for your blood pressure.”

The research was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine journal.

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Tags: belly fat, British Dietetic Association, Dr Jordi Salas-Salvado, healthy diet, low fat diet, Mediterranean diet, nuts, University of Rovira i Virgili, waist circumference

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 10th, 2008 at 12:21 am and is filed under Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.