10 Healthiest Foods for Your Heart in 10 Days: Day 5

Are we all going nuts?  There is nothing better than discovering a simple and delicious snack that may improve your health.  No steps to follow or time consumed, just a filling food and the good feeling that comes from taking care of your body.  But if nuts are heart healthy and a good-for-you, simple snack then why are they labeled as fatty and banned from schools?

Nuts are full of fat, but much like salmon or olive oil, two other heart-healthy foods, nuts are filled with unsaturated fats, which lower bad cholesterol levels.  They are also one of the greatest plant-based sources of omega-3 fatty acids, which can actually prevent dangerous heart rhythms that can lead to heart attacks.  Nuts only become fattening, and even bad for your heart, when coated in salt and sugar and eaten in excess, thus for maximum benefit, nuts should be consumed plain.
Nuts also help reduce the risk of developing blood clots, but they contain two substances that help keep arteries in top shape.  The first substance is Vitamin E, which prevents the development of plaque in arteries, which can slow or even stop blood flow to the heart.  The second is l-arginine, which helps keep artery walls flexible and less prone to clots.

But all nuts are not created equal.  Walnuts contain high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, but almonds, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, pistachios and pecans are also heart healthy.  Because they are high in calories, too many may equal caloric overload, so the Food and Drug Administration recommends limiting servings to approximately a handful, and to receive the full heart-healthy benefits, that handful should replace another protein, such as eggs, meat, or dairy, all of which are animal-based proteins and contain saturated fat.  As it can be hard to keep track of what you have consumed while standing over a giant bag mindlessly munching, a great way to ensure that you get the health benefits without damaging your waistline is to place serving-sizes of nuts into baggies.  Having this convenient snack at the ready may encourage healthier snacking by preventing a run on the vending machine at work or school.  Also, as nuts are high in fiber, they will keep you full, which may prevent gorging on a later meal.

So with all of the health benefits why do nuts have a bad rap?  More than 3 million people in the United States are allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, or both, and peanuts, which are actually not a nut, but a legume, cause 50-62% of food-related anaphylaxis deaths in the United States, with tree nuts, such as walnut, almond, hazelnut, pistachio, and Brazil nuts causing 15-30%.  Thus not only are many people allergic to the heart-healthy nuts mentioned above, but the potential reaction to them is severe and even life threatening, and peanut allergies are becoming more common, with cases nearly doubling in children from 1997-2002.  For further information on peanut allergies and introducing peanuts to children, please see "When to Introduce Peanuts to Kids."

Interesting nut facts:
The cashew is in the same family as mango and pistachio. Research has shown a link between a cashew allergy and a severe reaction to poison ivy.
Almond is in the plum family with apricot, cherry, nectarine, peach, and plum yet is considered a tree nut by most allergists.
The pecan is in the walnut family.
Coconut is in the palm family, and doesn’t cross react with tree nuts, but it has been deemed a tree nut by the FDA for labeling.