Nuts and Your Heart

Joan Mason

AMERICUS — Nuts and your heart health

 

The FDA approved this package label health claim for nuts:  “Scientific evidence suggests but does not prove that eating 1.5 ounces per day (handful equals 1 ounce) of most nuts, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease.” According to FDA, “Types of nuts eligible for this claim are restricted to almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, some pine nuts, pistachio nuts and walnuts. Types of nuts on which the health claim may be placed are restricted to those nuts that were specifically included in the health claim petition, but that do not exceed 4g saturated fat per 50g of nuts.”

Though nuts are a higher-fat food, it is mostly heart-healthy unsaturated fat and may help lower low-density lipoproteins (LDL or “bad:” cholesterol). Nuts also are recommended as part of the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), a dietary plan clinically proven to significantly reduce blood pressure. The DASH diet is supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and recommends four to five servings per week from its “nuts, seeds and legumes” grouping.

Weight Control: Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard School of Public Health found three times as many people trying to lose weight were able to stick to a Mediterranean-style moderate-fat weight loss diet that included nuts, peanuts and peanut butter versus the traditionally recommended low-fat diet.   As long as you control total calories, eating a handful of nuts daily may help prevent weight gain and possibly promote weight loss. The fat, protein and fiber in nuts help you feel full longer, so you may eat less during the day. By helping induce a feeling of satiety, nuts may help people feel less deprived and not like they’re “dieting.” Just limit your portion to a healthy handful.

Nut Nutrition: Some nutrients associated with nuts include magnesium, manganese, protein, fiber, zinc and phosphorus.  Samplings of nuts in the news for their contribution to specific nutrients include:

• Walnuts. One ounce of walnuts (about 14 shelled walnut halves) is all that is needed to meet the 2002 dietary recommendation of the Food Nutrition Board of the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine for omega-3 fatty acids.

• Almonds. One ounce of almonds (about 20 to 24 shelled whole almonds) provides 35 percent of your daily value for Vitamin E. This vitamin may help promote healthy aging. A study reported earlier in the Journal of the American Association suggests a diet rich in foods containing vitamin E may help protect some people against Alzheimer’s disease.

• Peanuts. Though often discussed with nuts, peanuts are a legume along with dry beans, peas and lentils. One ounce of roasted peanuts provides about 10 percent of the daily value of folate, a B vitamin recommended in helping reduce the incidence of birth defects and lower the risk of heart disease. Peanuts also are an excellent source of niacin, providing about 20 percent of the daily value.

As a group, nuts also are important for what they DON’T offer:

• Cholesterol. Nuts are cholesterol-free.

• Sodium. Unless salt is added to nuts, they naturally contain, at most, just a trace of sodium.

Remember, FDA recommendation for serving size:  1.5 ounces or one and a half times a “handful.” Just enjoy!

 

Joan Mason, Sumter County Extension agent/Family & Consumer Sciences, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service. Contact her at 924-4476.

 

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