Eating nuts as part of a healthy diet can be good for your, heart a friend told me one day when he saw me enjoying a packet of Macadamia nuts. Nuts, which contain unsaturated fatty acids and other nutrients, are a great snack food, too so I read. They’re inexpensive, easy to store and easy to take with you to work

The type of nut you eat isn’t that important, although some nuts have more heart-healthy nutrients and fats than do others. Walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, you name it, almost every type of nut has a lot of nutrition packed into a tiny package. If you have heart disease, eating nuts instead of a less healthy snack can help you more easily follow a heart-healthy diet..

Although it varies by each nut, researchers think most nuts contain at least some of these heart-healthy substances:

Unsaturated fats. It’s not entirely clear why, but it’s thought that the "good” fats in nuts — both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats — lower bad cholesterol levels.

Omega-3 fatty acids. Many nuts are also rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3s are a healthy form of fatty acids that seem to help your heart by, among other things, preventing dangerous heart rhythms that can lead to heart attacks. Omega-3 fatty acids are also found in many fish, but nuts are one of the best plant-based sources of omega-3 fatty acids.

L-arginine. Nuts also have lots of l-arginine, which is a substance that may help improve the health of your artery walls by making them more flexible and less prone to blood clots that can block blood flow.

Fibre. All nuts contain fibre, which helps lower your cholesterol. Fibre also makes you feel full, so you’ll eat less later. Fibre is also thought to play a role in preventing diabetes.

Vitamin E. Researchers still aren’t sure, but it’s thought that vitamin E may help stop the development of plaques in your arteries which can narrow them, leading to chest pain, coronary artery disease or a heart attack.

Plant sterols. Some nuts contain plant sterols, a substance that can help lower your cholesterol. Plant sterols are often added to products like margarine and orange juice for additional health benefits, but sterols occur naturally in nuts.

Nuts contain a lot of fat; as much as 80 percent of a nut is fat. Even though most of this fat is healthy fat, it’s still a lot of calories. That’s why they should be eaten in moderation. Ideally,nuts should be used as a substitute for saturated fats, such as those found in meats, eggs and dairy products.

Instead of eating unhealthy saturated fats, try substituting a handful of nuts. According to research, eating about a handful a day of most nuts, such as almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, some pine nuts, pistachio nuts and walnuts, may reduce your risk of heart disease. But again, do this as part of a heart-healthy diet. Just eating nuts and not cutting back on saturated fats found in many dairy and meat products won’t do your heart any good.

Most nuts appear to be generally healthy, though some more so than others. Walnuts are one of the best-studied nuts, and it’s been shown they contain high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. Almonds, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts and pecans are other nuts that appear to be quite heart healthy. Even peanuts — which are technically not a nut, but a legume, like beans — seem to be relatively healthy. So remember that eating nuts can be a life saver for you, only if you eat them in moderation.

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