Go nuts for heart health

| 2 June 2008
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A traditional Mediterranean diet with a daily serving of mixed nuts may help manage a range of risk factors linked to heart disease. A Spanish study of over 1,000 older adults found that a Mediterranean diet enriched with 30 grams a day of nuts (three of each of the following: almonds, Brazils, cashews, walnuts and pistachios) could help control abdominal fat, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and high blood sugar. Nuts are a good source of fibre, arginine (an essential amino acid), potassium, calcium and magnesium.

Salas-Salvadó et al., 2008. Effect of a Mediterranean diet supplemented with nuts on metabolic syndrome status: one-year results of the PREDIMED randomized trial. Archives of Internal Medicine. 168 (22) 2449-2458.

About the author
Dr. Justine Butler
I joined Viva! as a health campaigner in 2005 after graduating from Bristol University with a PhD in molecular biology. My scientific training helped me research and write numerous reports, guides and fact sheets for Viva! including Meat the Truth, Fish-Free for Life, One in Nine (breast cancer and diet) and the substantial report on the detrimental health effects of consuming dairy; White Lies. This accompanied Viva!’s report The Dark Side of Dairy which spelt out the inherent cruelty of dairy farming. We were the first UK group to take on the dairy industry in this way, and many of our supporters go vegan after reading these reports.

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