Striving4Zen

A handful of nuts every day can lower your heart-disease risk by a third, chop your Alzheimer's risk by two-thirds, and help you slim down. We pitted the Elite Eight of nuts (coaches' poll) against one another in three categories to determine the best nut of all.

ROUND 1: MONO MADNESS
Winners were based on monounsaturated-fat content, the heart-healthy fats that help lower your total and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, while raising levels of HDL (good) cholesterol.

BRAZIL 6.5 grams (g) mono fats v. MACADAMIA 16.8 g mono fats
PISTACHIO 6.9 g mono fats v. ALMOND 9.5 g mono fats
WALNUT 2.5 g mono fats v. PECAN 12.5 g mono fats
PEANUT 7 g mono fats v. CASHEW 7.7 g mono fats

ROUND 2: PROTEIN PUNCH
You need protein to help you get lean, pack on muscle, or fight off an afternoon slump at work.

MACADAMIA 2.2 g protein v. ALMOND 6.3 g protein
PECAN 2.7 g protein v. CASHEW 4.3 g protein

ROUND 3: VITAMIN VITALITY
The best nuts are like multivitamins. An ounce of almonds provides half the vitamin E you need daily, 8% of the calcium, and 19% of the magnesium. These nutrients lower your risk of heart attack and improve your bone strength.

ALMOND 7.5 milligrams (mg) vitamin E, 75 mg calcium, 81 mg magnesium, 211 mg potassium v.
CASHEW 0.2 milligrams vitamin E, 13 mg calcium, 74 mg magnesium, 160 mg potassium

(Winners based on ounce-by-ounce comparison of dry-roasted, unsalted nuts.)
AND THE NUT CHAMPION IS . . . ALMOND!

Thanks Men's Health!

Labels: health food, nutrition, Nuts