Nuts to you
I recently discovered more evidence to support nuts as one of my favorite health foods.
I've long espoused the benefits of nuts, which are chock full of protein, healthy monounsaturated fats, vitamins A and E, and great minerals like boron, phosphorus and potassium. We've known for some time that nuts are a heart-healthy food; some studies have suggested that frequent nut consumption can slash heart disease risk by as much as 30 to 50 percent!
Now there's a theory to explain why.
In a Spanish study, 24 healthy volunteers ate the same high-fat meal; afterward, half of the group chased it with five teaspoons of olive oil, while the other half noshed on eight shelled walnuts. Both foods reduced the sudden inflammation and oxidation usually seen in arteries after a high-fat meal.
But the walnut group also demonstrated more elasticity and flexibility in their arteries than the olive oil group, even in participants with elevated cholesterol levels. That's important, because arteries need to be able to expand to accommodate increased blood flow and to compensate for build up of cholesterol plaque. Remember the old diagnosis, "hardening of the arteries"? That's just another way of saying that the arteries had stiffened up, loosing their elasticity.
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