Eating Nuts for a Healthy Heart

In the past, nuts have gotten a bad rap. Many people think of them being fatty, salty, and high in calories. But eating the right kind of nuts, and eating them in moderation, is a great way to get your protein and fiber, and it’s a great way to keep your heart healthy.

Nuts are one of the best diet foods you can have, especially if you’re diabetic, hypoglycemic, or are on another restricted sugar diet. Eating a handful of nuts not only gives you protein essential for your diet, it also helps raise your blood sugar slowly without the crash that carbs can cause. This means you won’t feel drained later, and you be as hungry, either. You can eat them as a snack to tide you over, or shortly before meal time to help you eat less and help keep your weight down.

One of the many healthy things in nuts is l-arginine. This can help keep your artery walls from hardening, a common cause of heart problems. It can help prevent clots from backing up the blood flow in your heart.

By now, you’ve probably heard about good and bad fats. The best fats of them all are the Omega-3 fatty acids. Unlike other fats, which we should mostly avoid, most people don’t get enough of these beneficial fats in their diet. These fatty acids are great for the heart because they help prevent irregular heartbeats. And nuts are a great way to get them, especially if you have no desire to eat a ton of fish or flax seed.

We all know cholesterol can be bad for your heart. Nuts naturally contain plant sterols, which have been shown to lower cholesterol levels. Many products have a heart healthy emblem on them simply because they have added plant sterols, but nuts already have them naturally (which is generally better for you).

Nuts also contain a lot of unsaturated fats. While they’re not normally considered as good for you as Omega-3s, unsaturated fats are still good for you. Research is showing that these fats can help lower the ?bad cholesterol? in your system.

Fiber is not only essential for keeping your colon and the rest of your digestive system clear and healthy, it’s great for your heart too. Fiber has been shown to lower your cholesterol levels, which can cause serious heart problems if excessive. It also helps slow absorption of sugar into the blood stream so you avoid the sugar crash and eat less.

So, as you can tell, nuts have all different kinds of substances that help strengthen your heart health all around, instead of just helping one of two factors. Remember, eating nuts is one of many steps in a heart-healthy diet. In addition to adding nuts to your diet, listen to your doctors recommendations, cut back or quit unhealthy habits, and get plenty of exercise and rest.

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