Why nuts are considered healthy snacks? How about nut drink and oil?

From the previous post regarding our evolving snacking behavior, we know that

1) People are snacking more frequently and healthily

2) Less sugar and more proteins in newer snacks

3) More people are replacing breakfast with snacks

Nuts are part of these snacking movement as they are naturally cholesterol free and one of the top favourite for healthy plant-based snacks. These are some of the key ingredients that contributed to our health:

1) Unsaturated fats – There are the ‘good’ fats that help to lower your bad cholesterol content

2) Omega-3 – Yes, we know this Omega-3 is found in salmon but they are also found in nuts! Some like walnuts, hazelnuts and peanuts are loaded with them, so if you dislike the fishy smell, this is a good replacement.

3) Vitamin E antioxidants – Almonds, hazelnuts and pine nuts are high in these antioxidants content. One of nature’s best way to delay aging is to take these naturally occurring antioxidants!

4) L-arginine – Walnuts, hazelnuts and pecans are full of L-arginine, which is an amino acid to make proteins and build muscles

5) Vitamin B – Want better skin? Take more walnuts, almonds and cashews for glowing and smoother skin. These Vitamin B helps to reduce the appearances of wrinkles and enable skin to remain moist.

Some widely known and proven health benefits include the following:

1) Reducing risk of Type 2 diabetes

2) Reducing your LDL or bad cholesterol

3) Improve health of your arteries

4) Lower risk of inflammation due to heart illnesses

5) Reduce risk of blood clots 

It does not surprise us. Highly loaded with dietary fiber and proteins, nuts are a great healthy snack to fill up your stomach and avoid over eating. They also contain high levels of unsaturated fats, which is healthy fats that contribute to ‘good’ cholesterol. Not just that, most nuts have low Glycemic Index (GI), which means that they do not raise your blood sugar quickly, like rice and ice cream.

Daily serving is a handful or around 30g so do not consume too much in a day. Nuts with additional salt, flavouring and seasoning are also not as healthy.

What about nut oil?

Nut oil also do contain similar health benefits but they do not have the dietary fiber. They do retain the vitamins but that also depends on your method of cooking.

Peanut oil is recommended to be used for frying and high heat cooking, which may nullify the health benefits. Walnut oil is the healthiest but they are only for salad dressing as high heat will give it a bitter taste.