Eating nuts dramatically reduces the risk of heart disease. This has been conclusively proven by several well-designed large epidemiologic studies.157,158 People who ate more than 5 ounces of nuts (including peanuts) a week had about a 35% lower chance of heart disease. The reason for this beneficial effect is not known but may relate to the high amounts of monounsaturated fats in nuts.
The same degree of beneficial effect of nuts and peanuts was not seen for peanut butter. Perhaps this is because most commercially bought peanut butter has added hydrogenated fat. When you go to the grocery store, be sure to buy “natural” peanut butter, which does not contain harmful additives such as hydrogenated fat. Though this has not been proven, it is extremely likely that natural peanut butter lowers the risk of heart disease as much as nuts and peanuts do.
The one catch about nuts is that nuts have a very high caloric density, and eating a large amount of nuts could cause you to gain weight. My advice would be to eat between 5 and 10 ounces of nuts a week once you have achieved your goal weight. Because nuts have such a high caloric density, it makes sense not to eat nuts until you achieve your goal weight. For those people who find themselves unable to lose weight for psychological reasons (e.g. binge eaters), my advice is to eat 5 ounces of nuts a week to get the heart benefit and to cut calories somewhere else.
How much is one ounce of nuts? 24 almonds, 6–8 Brazil nuts, 18 cashews, 12 hazelnuts, 10–12 macadamia nuts, 28 peanuts, 20 pecan halves, 47 pistachio nuts, or 14 walnut halves.
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