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.
Tiffany
http://loveyourbodysize.com
Dr. Rick Lippin
Southampton,Pa
http://medicalcrises.blogspot.com
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.
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.
Let's have another glass of that pineapple Kool-Aid!
Oh. That kind of nuts.
Never mind.
(apologies).
I remember doing this when camping and hiking, it it did work.
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.
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.
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
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!
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