BIG Nutrition: Nuts Every Day

For participants in the Nutrition Challenge, the special challenge this week is to eat 1 ounce of nuts on 5 of 7 days.

Looking at the research, nuts deliver a lot of nutrients in a small amount of food, and they reduce your risk of dying from respiratory disease and diabetes by 50% and 40%, respectively, based upon a meta-analysis of 29 research studies. Further, just 1 ounce of nuts per day can reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. The specific type of nuts in the analysis did show associations. For a reduced risk of:

• Coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease and mortality….eat peanuts and tree nuts
• Stroke….eat peanuts
• Cancer…..eat tree nuts (e.g., almonds, walnuts, pecans, pistachios, cashews, hazelnuts)

No additional health benefits have been shown for eating more than 1 ounce of nuts per day, and because they are dense in calories, eating 1 ounce per day is likely a good approach.

Storing Nuts to Prevent Rancidity

• Place in sealed glass or plastic container
• Keep at room temperature for up to 3 months, or for longer storage, place in refrigerator or freezer

You can learn more about storing nuts here.

DIY

Here is a recipe to roast your own nuts and make a low carbohydrate granola with nuts.

Happy and healthful eating,

Donna G. Pertel, MEd, RD, LDN

Questions about how to pace your protein intake each day? Contact me at [email protected]