A study published earlier this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine, reaffirmed what many previous researchers have found – consumption of nuts helps reduce bad cholesterol levels in the blood.
Though nuts are high calorie foods due to their fat content, they are for the most part beneficial unsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids. Nuts are also a good source of fiber, which causes us to feel fuller faster and help keep us regular.
What to do at the supermarket:
Look for unprocessed nuts – no salt added, and in many cases unroasted as well. Roasting is fine and can easily be done at home. You just don’t need the added oil and salt that comes with it in many cases. It’s also much cheaper to buy nuts in bulk than prepackaged.
Nut butter are also great, with the most famous being peanut butter. Again, look for peanut butter made with just peanuts. Most of the commercial brands such as Skippy and Jif add sugar and oils to the mix.
