I've gotten a handful of questions about almonds recently so it seemed like it was time to give them their own personal blog post. It's a good day to talk about the benefits of a handful of almonds, since it's also National Wear Red Day and heart disease is an important risk factor for women with PCOS. They're repeatedly shown to have heart healthy benefits. Eight peer-reviewed studies reported at www.almondsarein.com consistently produced the same results: lower LDL and lower total cholesterol. Other findings included increased HDL, and lower triglycerides.
The disclaimer is that the almonds were used to replace other foods in the diet. In other words, if you know your diet needs some"cleaning up", it won't help to keep eating the problem foods and add the almonds. You need to simultaneously reduce intake of other foods and replace those calories with almonds.
Fortunately, almonds are a tasty snack and can be added to your morning oatmeal, your lunchtime salad, or your favorite muffin recipe. If you'd like to take it one step further and cook more with almonds, the almond people have a great web page with a search engine to give you some ideas.
My parents have a time share on the island of Kauai. In a recent conversation they mentioned that they are gearing up for their every-other-year trip, and what came to mind? Not the beaches, not the snorkeling, not the sunsets…but the coffee-crusted macadamia nuts they always bring back.
When I started in this profession waaaay back when, I was taught to teach that nuts were to be avoided. And that macadamia nuts were the worst of the worst.
Recently, a colleague and I did an analysis of all nuts. Using a nutrient database, we developed a ratio: pro-inflammatory fats (saturated and omega-6) to anti-inflammatory fats (monounsaturated and omega-3). What we discovered when we did this was that the highest anti-inflammatory rating belonged to macadamia nuts. The reason is that macadamias proportionately have a very high monounsaturated fat content. Monounsaturated fats are the healthy fats often associated with olive oil and avocados.
Was I ever stoked!
Sometimes I feel like I'm in a"Where's Waldo?" drawing…and consumers have to find me in the middle of the crowd, the lone nutritionist who's encouraging them to eat all nuts, not just walnuts. It's not that I don't like walnuts, I just think they get way too much attention considering the health values of other nuts.
Looks like other researchers are making the same discovery. Recently a laboratory at Pennsylvania State University reported that an ounce and a half of macadamia nuts daily helped to reduce total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL), and triglycerides.
Macadamia oil is also a popular ingredient in acne lotions. And it is being researched as a potential anti-aging agent for skin preparations.
Of course, eating any nut in excess is as potentially detrimental as eating any food in excess. But I know in my counseling that clients are always looking for good snack ideas. It's so fun to help them learn how that ounce of nuts, in the middle of the afternoon, can help stave off hunger until dinnertime.
Nuts are not to be feared…anymore.
Griel AE, Cao Y, Bagshaw DD, Cifelli AM, Holub B, Kris-Etherton PM. A macadamia nut-rich diet reduces total and LDL-cholesterol in mildly hypercholesterolemic men and women. J Nutr. 2008 Apr;138(4):761-7.
Akhtar N, Yazan Y. Formulation and in-vivo evaluation of a cosmetic multiple emulsion containing vitamin C and wheat protein. Pak J Pharm Sci. 2008 Jan;21(1):45-50.
