The "Nut" In Nutritious
In my first blog post, I wrote about the benefits of thirty-three of the healthiest fruit and vegetables on earth, describing the nutrition benefits of each. The post garnered over 100,000 readers, and generated nearly 400 reader comments, many of which asked for more information. People asked: "What about nuts? What about beans? What about fish? Aren't they healthy, too?" My answer is: "Yes, of course!"
Therefore, my next ten posts will be devoted to covering ALL the areas crucial to longevity. These include other foods that should be included in a longevity diet - such as nuts, fish, beans, grains and fresh juices. I'll talk about the necessary importance of brain fitness as you age, and how you can keep the brain fit along with the body. Other planned topics: Weight loss, the dangers of supplements, and proper elimination.
I will share my advice, spoken from personal experience of what I do to remain fit, energetic and focused at 86 years of age. Though I'm not a scientist, everything my Dole Nutrition Institute publishes is based on scientific research. So this second post will provide information readers requested on nuts - and why you should include them in your diet.
ALMONDS: My favorite - especially when covered in dark chocolate! Top nut source of vitamin E, to protect the heart, slow aging, and bolster immunity.
WALNUTS: Top nut in heart-healthy, brain-boosting omega-3 oils. The omega-3 oils in walnuts could help calm and moisten dry, irritated skin. Walnuts also contain a unique form of vitamin E thought to suppress prostate and lung cancer cell division.
PECANS: Top nut in antioxidants. This means they can help neutralize the free radicals that can accelerate aging and cause DNA damage. Pecans may also lower cholesterol.
PEANUTS: Though not strictly a nut (they are in fact a legume), peanuts contain more protein than tree nuts. They also contain the potent antioxidant resveratrol -- famously found in red wine.
PISTACHIOS: Top nut in potassium, needed to maintain healthy blood pressure. Also top nut in phytosterols (plant compounds that inhibit cholesterol absorption).
CASHEWS: Top nut in zinc, a mineral needed to support vision and immunity.
PINE NUTS: Top nut in manganese, essential for bone health and wound healing.
BRAZIL NUTS: Top nut in selenium, a mineral needed for proper thyroid and immune health. Selenium may also protect against cancers of the prostate, liver and lungs. Don't eat more than four a day.
MACADAMIA NUTS: Often shunned because they have more saturated fat than other nuts. However, researchers have found that a handful of macadamia nuts a day reduced total cholesterol by about 9%.
These are the kinds of things we are studying at our North Carolina Research Campus. It is the only campus in the world encompassing eight universities all working together for the benefit of health and longevity. These include Duke University, UNC Chapel Hill, NC State University, UNC Charlotte, North Carolina Central University, NC A&T State University, UNC Greensboro and Appalachian State University. Our Dole Nutrition Institute publishes articles, brochures, videos and our Dole Nutrition News, which you can receive by signing up at www.dolenutrition.com.
Stay tuned for my next post on Brain Fitness: What mental exercises and daily activities help keep your mind sharp and focuses, at any age.
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Well, I already have walnuts, cashews, and almonds in my pantry -- so I guess I'm halfway there. :)
Tiffany
http://loveyourbodysize.com
Aside from fresh fruit juices what other beverages to you recommend from the obvious which is water. I am very into Kombucha Tea but have heard mixed opinions.
"How nuts can improve your health?" , - sounds like the title of Hugh Heffner's autobiography.
More to the point: "How health can improve your nuts."
I'm nuts about nuts!
Dr. Rick Lippin
Southampton,Pa
http://medicalcrises.blogspot.com
I bet you think I'm going to click that link, right? Sorry, Doc.
This article verges on the pseudoscientific. It is all speculation with little empirical evidence to back up its claims. Personally I love nuts and eat raw almonds on a daily basis. However, nuts are packed with calories, and one can really get into weight problems by eating nuts ad lib. I think they are fine of you strictly ration them, but it's too easy for most people to cheat.
As for the claims of longevity based on this or that diet, I'm extremely skeptical. I don't think there is any evidence that there is a longevity advantage conferred by specific menu items. We should all probably limit sugars and starches and try to eat sources of healthy fats (including nuts and fish), leafy vegetables, and whole grains. Beyond that, the health advantages of specific foods is probably nil. It's a lot more important to minimize abdominal girth (by whatever means) and maximize aerobic exercise.
Wow, I've been trying to post a comment in reply to "skinnycoach" but without success...not sure why when I read others' comments that are getting through...I'll try again!
Anorexia nervosa is the deadliest of the psychiatric disorders....where "skinny" is the pinnacle of success....with very unhappy and dysfunctional outcomes. Guilt-ridden people with bulimia do extremely unhealthy, sometimes deadly, things to compensate for their "overindulgences."
Teaching people that there are "good" and "bad/avoid" foods is irresponsible, if not malpractice, especially when they are taught to avoid very nutritious foods, like nuts, simply for weight's sake. Just because one person can't moderate doesn't mean others can't moderate.
Research is showing specific components of food, not simply calories, protein, fat, or carbs, can have significant effects on appetite and metabolism in specific people...a one-size-fits-all approach is not helpful for sustained weight management or prevention/treatment of eating disorders.
Nothing to sell...PhD/RD, practice in weight management and ED.
I'm so impressed with this article that I am filling my pantry with canned pineapples in syrup and salted nuts, all from Dole. Since the author is such a master of nutrition and healthy lifestyle, I figure his products must be the very best stuff one can eat! I too want to live into my 80s without ever having been sick a day in my life, and wear a big smile on my face at all times!
Let's have another glass of that pineapple Kool-Aid!
This was the best article and postings I have seen all day on Huffpo. I happen to love raw almonds and I do love (in moderation) raw almond butter. From reading this article, I am now wondering if I should eat it
I thought the research showed that having nuts shortened your life-span, and that . . .
Oh. That kind of nuts.
Never mind.
(apologies).
hemp
Hemp seed nuts are delicious! Great in smoothies.
Nuts are the best breakfast for sustained energy.
Good idea. i will have nuts for breakfast!
I remember doing this when camping and hiking, it it did work.
Greek breakfast...greek yogurt, nuts, raisins and honey. delicious!
No. A Greek breakfast is a cup of coffee and two cigarettes.
I have a couple of handfuls of unsalted nuts and a small chunk of cheese each morning after exercising. I gave up bagels around the first of the year and have lost about 20 lbs. since then and I don't get tired on my commute.
It's best to eat nuts raw, for optimum nutritional benefits. Also, if you soak almonds and walnuts in water for a few hours, you remove the enzyme inhibitors (the chemicals which stop them from sprouting - they are seeds, after all), making them more easily digested.
But then they would be much more difficult to market as a snack food. Better keep this information to yourself!!!
A bit of nut trivia for dog owners: Do not feed your dogs macadamia nuts.
We feed our dogs a varied diet based upon nature (bones and raw foods diets). I really hate the semi-hysterical lists of everything you cannot feed your dog, but along with chocolate and acetaminophen, macadamia nuts should be at the top of the list. I have very big Newfoundland dogs. My male, at the time about 160lbs looooved macadamia nuts. (my female loves pistachios ) Two times we fed him about a cup as treats, each time the next morning he could not get up. If you google it you will find it causes muscle weakness in dogs. It took about 24 hours for him to be able to stand. The first time we didn't make the connection but after the second time, I found all sorts of studies on a search. So keep those wonderful macadamia nuts for yourself and to crust your fish, but never give them to dogs. One may be too much for a little dog, I really have no idea.
One cup of nuts is a huge serving for a dog, even a big Newfie. Their ideal diet is what they ate in Newfoundland, and that doesn't include exotic nuts from Hawaii. Know what I mean?
Yes I do, and I learned that lesson the hard way, although I don't think the common dog owner knows that macadamia nuts could kill your dog, or at least hospitalize them for weeks.
My dogs favorite treats are whole anchovies that we buy from the bait store for $2 a bag. More than treats, many times it is a whole dinner. My male dog loves fish so much that we take him to the docks and he begs fish off the fisherman. Had to stop having him eat bullfish whole when we found out that if eaten upside-down they could get caught in their throat.
I've gotten several friends to go to the bait shop to buy cheap fish to feed their dogs. Just wanted to share my horrible nut story so more people could learn from my stupidity.
Is there a difference in "English" walnuts and "black" walnuts, and which is better?
Big difference in flavor, I think. The Black ones have a soapy taste.
The USDA does distinguish between the two varieties in its database but as far as macronutrients (protein carbs and fats), vitamins and minerals go they have a very similar nutrition profiles.
Hello Mr. Murdock, I saw you on Oprah the other day and your way of life is fantastic, as so is your passion for nutrition. Your Research Institute seems out of this world and it is an extraordinary initiative. I'm sure you will research a lot of things, and it would be great if some research could go into the advantages of omega oils (from fish and flax) for treating mental health issues like depression and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It would also be great if you could go into the new discoveries that are being made around magnesium deficiency and the great advantages this mineral can bring when it properly nourishes the body, like with Magnesium chloride and Magnesium oil.
While the health benefits of nuts are indisputable I have to say that for many people nuts are impossible to eat without over indulging. My skinny girls and I can not moderate nuts so we just don't eat them.
Chocolate covered almonds! If you eat a mere 13, which is a serving size, you are getting 210 calories and over half of those calories are from fat. In fact, over 15 grams of fat, well over a third of what most people should eat in a day- and that is for only 13 NUTS!
Again, with extreme moderation, nuts have a lot to offer, but the health benefits do not outweigh the deleterious effect of over indulgence - gaining weight.
Tiffany Wright, Ph.D.
LA's SkinnyCoach
www.skinnycoach.com
www.elementalyou.com
as a skinny coach you should know that all fats aren't bad. We need fats to be healthy.
Tooshay. I'd rather be healthy than skinny!
Truly! I find it very hard to eat nuts in moderation so I mostly avoid them. They are too good!
Here's something to try. Keep your nuts in the freezer--better for them anyway, to avoid rancidity. Then, every evening you take a modest portion of nuts out of the freezer, and put them in a sealed container on the kitchen counter. Those are your nuts for the following day. They will defrost overnight, and you can eat them during the following day whenever you like.
Now, your discipline is much easier. You don't have to control your nut-eating urges all day long. You just make sure you eat those only those nuts you set out on the counter the night before, and never defrost any additional nuts for any reason. That's a much more tractable form of habit control. Good luck, and enjoy your nuts!
[This message does not require censorship.]
I was already skinny and now even skinnier since I found I had pre type 2 diabetes. I have to disagree with you about gaining weight eating nuts. Maybe it's the low carb diet I have to follow now, but nuts have been my saving grace. They keep me from craving carbs. Yes, I eat them in moderation, but if you have diabetes it's better to eat nuts than bread. Or sugar. Or potato chips, or crackers.....
I'm with you, Roseberry. I find it much easier to eat a handful of nuts and be satisfied than with cookies, chips, etc. Nuts are nutritionally dense and I think it would be difficult to overindulge at one sitting like you can with simple carbs because you feel full so quickly. Moderation does not work for me with sugary snacks, they just make me crave more. Like the saying goes, one is too many and a thousand is not enough!
And, I'm betting with your new way of eating, you will beat Type 2 diabetes. Good luck!
Great idea. In fact, don't eat anything because of the risk of overindulgence. It's called anorexia nervosa.
seriously...I agree with goliadkin. have some discipline and restraint!
I agree with you, I don't strive so much for low carb as a Paleo diet where nuts are allowed, but I can eat lots of nuts (salted or unsalted) and never feel full. (and that applies to cheese as well). What works for me is protein, protein, protein. Add some nuts to a protein meal, whether that is a salad with some chicken and nuts on it, or a nut crusted fish and I get satiated. I eat nuts alone and no matter how much I eat I just don't get that same feeling. Nuts are great, but for me it is all in moderation - with protein.
Remember that "protein" is not just flesh food. As a Vegan for 35 years, I get my "protein" (#1 question I'm asked is "where do you get your protein?") from everything I eat. Protein is the Amino Acids and I get more from Asparagus, Kale, etc. etc. than from meat. My B-12 is higher than a meat eaters, my cholesterol levels are always perfect and I am as satiated eating a big leafy salad with veggies, avocado, tomatoes, etc. as when I eat beans and rice. I eat RAW nuts, not salted or unsalted roasted nuts and other good fats like avocado, coconut, etc. and you should be spot on, however everybody is different, mine just does well on a vegan diet
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