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Beyond flavor and crunch, there are plenty of good reasons to throw some nuts into your brownies, banana bread, yogurt, muffins, pancakes, salads and smoothies. Antioxidants, lower oxidized cholesterol and better heart health are just a few of the benefits of indulging in nuts.
According to a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, eating more nuts is associated with improved blood cholesterol levels.
Researchers from Loma Linda University in California gathered data from 25 studies on eating nuts conducted in seven countries and involving 583 women and men with high or normal cholesterol levels. All the studies compared a control group to a group assigned to eat nuts.
Every day study participants ate an average of 2.4 ounces of nuts – equivalent to about 50 almonds. This was associated with an average 5.1 percent reduction in total cholesterol, a 7.4 percent reduction in low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or "bad" cholesterol) and an 8.3 percent improvement in the ratio of LDL cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or "good" cholesterol). In addition, triglyceride levels declined by 10.2 percent.
