“in study after study, the more often people ate nuts, the leaner they tended to be.”
via Snacking Your Way to Better Health – NYTimes.com.
Lose your fear of fats! Healthy fats, that is.
I’ve been telling clients for 2 decades that nuts are just about the best snack you can choose, and that adding them to your diet will help you lose fat, and regain health, despite their high fat content. In fact, that’s exactly what healthy fats do for you, including nuts, avocados, coconut products, and seeds, and these are excellent foods to boost your health and vitality.
Nuts make such a good snack because they are a perfect balance of protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates, so they keep your blood sugar steady while giving you a boost for your energy and focus. They are rich in vitamins and minerals, as well. In fact, there are few foods that come so perfectly packaged. Eggs are another one, but you have to eat the yolks! Far from raising cholesterol, or increasing cardiovascular risk, these nutritious food will improve your heart health.
I do disagree with the inclusion of peanuts here. Peanuts, as the article points out, are not tree nuts, but legumes. They are one of the most common food sensitivities, and I’m not talking about the kind that causes obvious distress, such as hives or difficulty breathing. It can also cause the kind of sneaky problem that contributes to a damaged metabolism and chronic symptoms of all sorts, so I strongly suggest you avoid them. Furthermore, peanuts are often a source of mold and mycotoxins, so they’re generally on my list of foods to avoid.
And while we’re on the subject of mold, please be wary of buying nuts from open bins. I find that they are more than occasionally rancid.
So remember: eating healthy fats does NOT make you fat, and does NOT raise cholesterol. In fact, it’s one of the healthiest choices you can make.
Fran Sussman Holistic Services 