Patriot Health Digest
Almonds might not seem like an exciting snack—but they should. When you take into account all the secret benefits of eating almonds, you will find yourself incorporating this nutritious food into all your meals.
Sure, these nuts are full of great healthy fats, but eating almonds can also give your body a lot of benefits that keep you energized and feeling great. Here are just some of the reasons why you should be consuming almonds on a daily basis.
1 — They’re a great source of fiber and protein.
There is serious nutritional power inside the crunch of almonds. Ounce for ounce, almonds are the one tree nut with the highest amount of fiber (around 4 grams), vitamin E (about 50%of your daily requirements), and riboflavin (around 25% of your DV). They are also among the best sources of hard-to-get magnesium (around 20% DV). And, they give 6 grams of plant protein in each healthy handful.
2 — They can lower your belly fat.
During a 12-week study of healthy overweight adults who were consuming a calorie-restricted diet, those who ate almonds daily (with 15% of their total calories being from almonds) versus the people who did not eat nuts, saw similar weight loss. But what is most interesting is that the almond-eaters lost more body fat and to be more specific, more fat from their truncal region (which is belly fat).
Lowering belly fat is connected to less risk of getting metabolic syndromes which lead to conditions like high blood sugar, higher blood pressure, bad cholesterol levels, as well as a greater risk of heart disease and diabetes.
3 — They are great for your heart.
Heart health is a crucial area of study, and a systematic study that looked at 18 previous studies found that consuming almonds ended in less ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, without changing your ‘good’ HDL cholesterol.
Another study from Penn State scientists and released in The Journal of Nutrition revealed that going for almonds as a snack when compared a high-carbohydrate snack can be helpful for your “good” HDL cholesterol.
Author: Blake Ambrose
