Adding these 10 nuts to your daily diet, you will effectively prevent cardiovascular diseases. Especially people with diabetes are at risk of cardiovascular disease higher than normal people.
Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading “killers” in many countries, including developed and developing countries. To deal with and prevent the above problems, besides using medicine, we need to eat healthy foods. So do you know about nuts that are good for the heart? If not, let’s take a look at the useful information below!.
Why are Nuts Good for the Heart?
Some studies have shown that, 20g of nut7s added to the diet per day can help the body reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases by 30% and the risk of cancer by 15%. This is because nuts always contain healthy nutrients that are beneficial to the body.
In addition, increasing the consumption of nuts also helps to reduce the frequency of using unhealthy foods, thereby creating conditions for users to have a healthy body.
That’s because the content of fiber, protein, vitamins is high and good for health, regularly eating nuts such as peanuts, sesame, almonds, cashews, walnuts … can help your body be more healthy, prevent high blood pressure, cholesterol …
Nuts help lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL or “bad”) cholesterol levels. LDL plays a major role in the development of plaque buildup on blood vessels. Eating more nuts has also been linked to lower levels of inflammation associated with heart disease.
Most nuts contain at least some heart-healthy substances:
- Unsaturated fats: “good” fats in nuts, both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, lower bad cholesterol levels.
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Omega-3 is a heart-healthy form of fatty acid that prevents dangerous heart rhythms that can lead to a heart attack. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in many types of fish, but many nuts are also rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
- Fiber: All nuts contain fiber, which helps lower cholesterol. In addition, fiber also plays a role in preventing type 2 diabetes. Fiber makes you feel full, so you eat less.
- Vitamin E: Vitamin E may help prevent the development of plaque in the arteries clinging, can narrow them. The development of plaque in your arteries can lead to chest pain, coronary artery disease or heart attack.
- Plant Sterols: Some nuts contain plant sterols, which can help lower cholesterol. Plant sterols are often added to products like margarine and orange juice for additional health benefits, but sterols occur naturally in nuts.
- L–arginine: These nuts are also a source of L-arginine, which are substances that can help improve the health of your arteries by making them more flexible and less prone to blood clots that clog the flow of blood vessels.
10 types of nuts that are good for the heart, you should eat every day
Most nuts are very high in healthy fats. Walnuts are 47% polyunsaturated fatty acids, also known as “good fats”. While most nuts contain polyunsaturated fatty acids, walnuts are the only ones that contain significant amounts of alpha linoleic acid.
Alpha linoleic acid acts as an anti-inflammatory and has actually been shown to help reduce plaque in the coronary arteries. Eating walnuts has been shown to improve cholesterol and the function of the arteries and small blood vessels in our body.
However, this study shows even more important, that eating walnuts helps reduce levels of apolipoprotein B, a genetic risk factor for high coronary artery disease.
If you are at high risk for coronary heart disease, or already have, consider eating walnuts every day.
Adding almonds in your diet will reduce bad cholesterol, the cause of plaque in the coronary arteries that can cause heart attacks.
Lowering bad cholesterol depends on how much you consume. Which means by increasing the amount of almonds you eat you can reduce bad cholesterol even more.
Clinical studies have shown that almonds can also reduce the risk of insulin resistance and diabetes. Even if you have diabetes, including almonds in your diet can help you improve your body’s insulin sensitivity. Almonds can also increase your weight loss.
A study published in 2015 that looked at cholesterol and body fat levels in people who ate 1.5 ounces of almonds per day compared to those who ate healthy muffins with the same number of calories found that: In just 6 weeks, people who ate almonds had an average of 5mg/dL lower LDL cholesterol. They also have less belly fat and leg fat.
If you are looking for a solution to shrink your waistline or improve your good cholesterol levels, start including almonds in your diet.
Although there is a lot of information that eating peanuts can cause allergies, many studies show that eating peanuts, including peanut butter, can reduce the risk of heart disease.
In the Nurse’s Heath Study, women who ate peanuts and peanut butter had a 34% reduced risk of heart disease. Those who ate peanuts several times a week benefited the most.
In a study of 6309 women with diabetes, eating one serving of peanuts (28 grams of nuts and 16 grams of peanut butter) five times a week or more reduced the risk of heart disease by 44%.
Eating peanuts and peanut butter also reduces the risk of diabetes in underweight as well as overweight women.
Like many nuts, peanuts are an alternative food source for your protein needs, which can lower cholesterol especially when combined with other healthy options.
4. Macadamia Nuts
Macadamia nuts are known to be the most nutritious and most expensive of all nuts. With its nutritional composition, Macadamia brings great value to the user’s health.
According to research by scientists, the oil content in macadamia nut kernel is up to 78%, higher than the amount of oil in peanut and sunflower seeds. The unsaturated fatty acids account for 87% of this oil. Especially there are substances that our body can not synthesize on its own, have the effect of lowering cholesterol, preventing arteriosclerosis, very good for the heart.
Besides, macadamia nuts are also an abundant source of protein for the body, the amount of protein in this nutritious nut accounts for 9.2%, including 20 different amino acids and 8 amino acids that play an important role for health.
Macadamia nuts also contain antioxidants and arginine, which is good for the heart and helps the blood vessel walls to be more flexible. New research shows that regularly adding macadamia nuts to the daily diet will reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 50%.
Many studies show that eating pistachios improves many health problems, the most important of which is heart function. Specifically, people who ate 1.5 ounces (about 42g) of pistachios per day when exposed to mental stress issues, their blood pressure was much more stable than those who did not.
In people with diabetes, eating pistachios helps reduce bad cholesterol and total cholesterol levels of the body, thereby reducing the risk of diabetes-related diseases that often occur in the arteries.
Another study involving diabetics in 2014 also showed that, when diabetics ate 6-10g of pistachios per day, under stress, heart function, blood pressure and heart rate, it’s more stable than before testing.
Pistachios are an effective solution when dealing with stress and mental pressure.
In many studies, scientists have found many beneficial micronutrients in cashews, especially cashew kernels. It is not only an abundance of mineral resources with “golden” minerals such as zinc, calcium, potassium, sodium, copper, magnesium … but also contains many amino acids, beneficial fats, fiber and vitamins.
Cashew nuts contain a rich amount of oleic acid, a type of monounsaturated fat, which helps reduce cholesterol in the blood and is very good for the cardiovascular system. In particular, it also plays a role in blood sugar control, improving and stabilizing the nervous system or in other words, improving mood.
In addition, cashews also contain a relatively large amount of magnesium, in addition to helping to stabilize nerves such as oleic acid (According to research by Larner School of Medicine at the University of Vermont), improving depression also works to reduce blood pressure and prevent heart attacks (According to research from the journal American Heart Association (American Heart Association).
Coronary heart disease and cardiovascular risk can be reduced by regularly eating cashews as they do not contain cholesterol, a steroidal fat, which is known to be a cause of cardiovascular diseases.
7. Chia Seeds
Chia seeds contain a large amount of fiber and omega-3s that help increase good cholesterol (HDL) and reduce bad cholesterol (LDL) in the body. In addition, high blood cholesterol is one of the causes of cardiovascular disease and dangerous complications. This is a healthy food that many nutritionists recommend for a long time without causing any adverse health effects.
Lowering cholesterol thanks to chia seeds is considered an effective natural remedy for people who are experiencing high cholesterol in the blood.
Many studies show that the omega-3s found in chia seeds can reduce the risk of arrhythmias that can lead to heart attack, heart failure, stroke or other heart-related problems.
Omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation, prevent cancer and support general health, but sometimes your diet doesn’t get enough of it. Therefore, regularly use chia seeds in meals to supplement the amount of omega-3 in the body to stabilize blood pressure and prevent atherosclerosis.
8. Lotus Seeds
Eating lotus seeds regularly helps to improve heart and blood pressure. Lotus seeds are one of the nuts that are good for the heart, which we cannot ignore. The cotyledon inside the lotus seed has a bitter taste, so many people often discard it.
However, this bitter taste is very beneficial for heart health and blood pressure. This bitter ingredient is isoquinoline alkaloids which have antispasmodic effects, help dilate blood vessels and effectively reduce blood pressure.
The low sodium and high potassium content in lotus seeds help to reduce blood pressure in hypertensive patients. Low sodium helps keep blood pressure under control. Meanwhile, magnesium in lotus seeds helps to improve the quality of blood and oxygen in the body. Low magnesium levels in the body increase the risk of heart disease.
9. Sunflower Seeds
Sunflower seeds contain healthy fats, vitamins and minerals, but many people feel nausea and fatigue after eating. Sunflower seeds are a great source of many nutrients, especially plant compounds with antioxidant properties along with significant levels of vitamin E and selenium.
Sunflower seeds help improve heart health, because they contain a compound that can prevent blood vessel constriction caused by an enzyme in the body, thereby helping blood vessels relax and reduce blood pressure.
Sunflower seeds also contain the mineral magnesium, which also contributes to lowering blood pressure. Not only that, the content of unsaturated fatty acids such as linoleic acid can create a compound – act like a hormone that relaxes blood vessels and contributes to improving high blood pressure, and also reduces blood pressure and cholesterol levels in the body.
10. Sesame Seeds
The effects of sesame can help lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels. This reduces the risk factors for heart disease. Sesame seeds have 15% saturated fat, 41% polyunsaturated fat (polyunsaturated fat) and 39% monounsaturated fat. Researchers have shown that eating more polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats compared to saturated fats can help lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. In addition, this seed contains 2 plant compounds, lignans and phytosterols, that also work to lower cholesterol levels.
The high magnesium content in sesame seeds (with 36g of sesame seeds providing up to 31.6% of the body’s daily magnesium requirement) reduces and stabilizes blood pressure, preventing heart attacks and strokes. In addition, sesame seeds also help prevent respiratory spasms, prevent migraine attacks and reduce menopausal syndrome.
In addition, sesame seed products have the effect of preventing and controlling diabetes in all different conditions, by the ability to regulate insulin and glucose levels in the body; The fiber and fatty oils in sesame seeds make food easier to digest, so the body also avoids digestive tract diseases.
Nuts are a very good source of energy, and if you eat too much you can gain weight. You should add nuts to a healthy heart-healthy diet, so treat it as a snack.
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