Healthy Snacks: The Healthiest Nuts To Pick At The Holiday Party (PHOTOS)

If you're eating with my husband and me you need to be quick to get what you want when it comes to certain foods. He's a chunk hunter and I'm a cherry picker. His ice-cream-scooping power has laserlike accuracy when it comes to finding and extracting the delectable bits of sinfulness from cookie, candy, and swirl-packed ice creams. When it comes to nuts, I like to scavenge around the nut bowl to pick out just the varieties I want to eat. (Yes, I'm that girl.)

Turns out my habit may have some health benefits. All nuts are packed with heart-healthy fats. But some picks rise above the rest in terms of nutrition benefits, as Caitlin Chapman wrote about in the November/December issue of EatingWell Magazine. Here are four of the healthiest nuts to eat. (FYI to peanut lovers -- they're a healthy choice too but we didn't consider them in this roundup because they're technically legumes.)

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Walnuts

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Walnuts (185 calories per 14 halves or 1 ounce) are the only nuts that offer a significant amount of the omega-3 fat alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). ALA’s anti-inflammatory properties halt plaque buildup in the arteries that results when "bad" LDL cholesterol is oxidized. The omega-3 is also linked with improved glucose control and stronger bones. In a study of 23 overweight people published in 2007 in Nutrition Journal, increasing intake of ALA via walnuts and flaxseed oil decreased the rate of bone breakdown.

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Walnuts (185 calories per 14 halves or 1 ounce) are the only nuts that offer a significant amount of the omega-3 fat alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). ALA’s anti-inflammatory properties halt plaque buildup in the arteries that results when "bad" LDL cholesterol is oxidized.

The omega-3 is also linked with improved glucose control and stronger bones. In a study of 23 overweight people published in 2007 in Nutrition Journal, increasing intake of ALA via walnuts and flaxseed oil decreased the rate of bone breakdown.

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Comments

[Margie Kronewitter]

11:44 AM on 12/25/2010

Nuts are best RAW and soaked for an hour or so to break down protein inhibitors that prevent them from sprouting prematurely. It also seems that THE SMALLER THE BETTER APPLIES TO SEEDS. CHIA, HEMP, SESAME, FLAX, SUNFLOWER, PUMPKIN ARE ALL SUPER, hemp being the best balance of essential fatty acids. Hard to soak flax or chia, as they create a healing gel.

[framante]

11:29 AM on 12/25/2010

Trouble is, at your typical holiday party the nut bowl was filled from a container of mixed nuts with added fat and salt. It is also uncommon to find unsalted pistachios. Healthy nuts at a holiday party is a bit of an oxymoron.

[Mason McClellan LAc]

03:56 PM on 12/24/2010

Maybe a sidebar...roasting nuts is bad, regardless.

And how about macadamia nuts??? They are probably the3 healthiest!!!

[CHMB]

12:54 PM on 12/24/2010

Just make sure the nuts aren't salted! Nuts are good for you, as is salt in small quantities.

Now I want nuts!

[Elizabeth Swigar]

10:43 AM on 12/24/2010

I particularly like this one b/c of the photos - very appetizing. I have walnuts every day for those health benefits.

[spitfiredd]

09:43 AM on 12/24/2010

Only other one I would add is Pumpkin/Winter Squash seeds they have the highest amount on zinc of any seed.