Nuts to crack for nutrition

Weight gain is a common problem faced by most of the people all over the world. Weight gain can lead you to many diseases like cardiac problems and diabetes mellitus. Avoiding food or fasting is not an ultimate solution to weight gain. Selection of food can help you to reduce weight without any problem in the metabolic functions of the body. Nuts and seeds are the ideal food for people having problems with weight gain. Nuts and seeds can reduce your appetite as well as provide required nutrients to your body.

They will be more effective if consumed unsalted. Nuts can be included in many forms in your daily meal as snacks or as ingredients in salads, oatmeal and salmon fillets. Nut butter can be used as a spread on toasts. Crushed nuts are very tasty when mixed with yogurt, syrups etc. or can be added to cookies and cakes before baking. Nuts are a storage house of fats, proteins and vitamins that can help you to over come heart related problems.

Fatty acids found in many food materials we eat are responsible for the degradation of cell membrane resulting in swelling and infection in the body. These food stuffs contain trans-fatty acid and saturated fats which can weaken insulin functions resulting in type 2 diabetes mellitus. But nuts contain monounsaturated fats and omega 3 fatty acids which enhance cell membrane and its functions. Eating nuts can hence improve the production of insulin and reduce the risk of diabetes mellitus. Nuts like almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts and walnuts decrease the LDL cholesterol and control the total cholesterol level in the body. Including nuts in your diet can replace the harmful saturated fats with monounsaturated fats thereby reducing the risk of heart diseases to 45%.

Other benefits of eating nuts include:

• Nuts are rich in arginine, antioxidants and vitamin E that can reduce cholesterol levels.

• Nuts contain folic acids that can reduce homocysteine, which induces heart diseases.

• Magnesium, calcium and potassium in nuts reduce the blood pressure.

• Ellagic acid in nuts is anti-carcinogenic.

• Campesterol and beta-sitosterol can decrease the risk of prostate and breast cancers.

• Arginine in nuts increases immunity and reduces the risk of tumor growth.

• Magnesium can improve the blood flow.

Almonds contain fats, proteins and vitamins that can fight many diseases in your body. Almonds contain plant sterols and flavonoids like naringenin and catechin which are effective antioxidants. Almonds are rich source of magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, riboflavin, copper and vitamin E. Almonds helps to reduce body weight.

An almond rich diet can decrease waist, blood pressure, body fat and body mass index (BMI). Walnuts are rich in nutrients and are the main source of omega-3 fatty acids. This can reduce cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases, and even enhance cognitive function. Omega-3 fats supply nutrients to brain cells and enhance their growth. Omega-3 fats can also help to reduce disorders in sleeping, behavior and learning, commonly found in children.

Almonds to improve your digestive health

Almonds – rich in vitamin E and other minerals – are known to reduce cholesterol. But a new study says they are also good for digestive health. The nut, the study found, has ‘prebiotic’ properties and helps improve digestive health by boosting the numbers of beneficial gut bacteria.

The digestive system houses bacteria in the colon. These fuel their own growth and activity by feeding off prebiotics or non-digestible parts of foods. These ‘good’ bacteria also form part of the body’s defense against harmful bacteria and have a significant role in the development of body’s immune system.

This, however, requires that prebiotics get through the upper part of the intestine without being digested or absorbed by the body. Institute of Food Research (IFR) scientists first used the Model Gut – a physical and biochemical simulator of the gastro-intestinal tract – to subject almonds to the same conditions experienced in the stomach and small intestine.

They then added the digested almonds to an in-vitro batch system to mimic the bacterial fermentation in the large intestine and monitored its effect on the populations of intestinal bacteria. The study found that finely ground almonds significantly increased the levels of certain beneficial gut bacteria.

This effect was not seen when the fat content was removed from the almond preparation, suggesting that the beneficial bacteria use the almond lipid for growth, and this is the basis for the prebiotic effects of almonds. The findings of the study have been published in the latest issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.