Nuts are a source of food, ranging from  peanuts to walnuts, coconuts, among others. They are delicious and filling to eat and also provide flavor to many recipes.

 For many years diet-conscious people were avoiding nuts for fear of increasing weight. But since the past decade or so, many studies have proven the overall beneficial effects of nuts on human health. 

It  was  observed that people who live around the Mediterranean Sea had a low prevalence of coronary artery disease as compared to other parts of the world. When the diet of this area was studied it was found that people, regularly consumed nuts.

Studies have shown that those who consumed nuts regularly had a 60 per cent less incidence of having heart attacks as compared to those who did not take nuts or took them sparingly.  Nuts are high in beneficial polyunsaturated fats and have a low content of harmful saturated fat. This is beneficial to prevent coronary artery disease. They   reduce risk of stroke and type 2 diabetes mellitus. 

Metabolic syndrome is known to be reversed by consuming nuts regularly. Blockade of blood vessels by clots is known to reduce by eating nuts regularly. 

Nuts also have antioxidant properties which help to build the body’s strength to fight against cancer and infections. 

They are a rich source of proteins in the diet which helps in repairing tissues against wear and tear and providing energy against infection. They are also high in fibre content. This aids in digestion and  to prevent constipation and digestive troubles. 

Apart from these benefits, nuts also provide vitamin E, folic acid, magnesium, copper, and amino acid arginine. These nutrients is useful for various functions of the body and are also healthy for the heart. Pistachios are said to improve erectile function in men.

 Current studies show that nuts do not cause obesity. In fact those eating nuts regularly were found to be thinner. Nuts are filling. Thus when one eats them, appetite for other foods is reduced, thus decreasing the total calories consumed. 

Eating a handful of nuts provides 160-200 calories. This is rich in healthy monounsaturated fats hence beneficial for the heart and body. All are useful  in different ways. One may pick his choice from the wide variety of nuts available, that is, peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, macademia, etc. Coconut is said to have a high cholesterol content. But not all the cholesterol is harmful. It is a rich source of protein and is useful for those desiring to put on weight and build up muscles as in body builders. It also contains lauric acid which is useful in fending off infections due to its antibacterial and anti-infective properties.  

Coconut is also useful in treating pancreatic disorders; hence indirectly it helps in better control of diabetes. It contains iodine, hence helps combat goiter which occurs due to disorder of thyroid gland.

It is said that eating 30-60 gram of nuts everyday is useful for the body and also the heart. They can be used as tea time snacks instead of the harmful junk food snacks. There is no study to say that eating them in greater quantity confers any additional benefit. Of course, eating anything in excess is bad and so would be for nuts.

One can include nuts in their menu and use them in a wide range of ways as possible for keeping good health. 

Dr Rachna Pande is a specialist in internal medicine at Ruhengeri Hospital