THOSE LITTLE WONDERS CALLED NUTS

THOSE LITTLE WONDERS CALLED NUTS

FOR DAYSTAR INVOLVEMENT NEWSPAPER

BY EMBUKANE VINCENT LIBOSSO

You can’t help but notice the new trend in Daystar especially among the ladies where everyone is into eating nuts. It seems like the in-thing but the wave is taking over the offices too as nearly everyone is nibbling on peanuts.

Some few years ago; nutritional advice always tended towards advising minimal nut consumption on the grounds that they are a “fatty” food. But scientists are now saying that eating nuts regularly reduces the risk of obesity and may help with weight loss.

According to a piece on the Standard newspaper; nuts are excellent sources of protein, fibre, minerals, healthy mono- unsaturated fats, and vitamin R and omega-3 essential fatty acids.

Nuts like almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts and walnuts fight bad cholesterol and control the total cholesterol level in the body, therefore reducing the risk of heart disease. Cholesterol is not all bad; it is the fat that provides support in the membranes of our bodies’ cell. And so not all cholesterol is bad. There is the god cholesterol, which aids functioning of our body and bad cholesterol; which collects in the walls of blood vessels causing blockage.

By reducing cholesterol levels; nuts cushion the heart from notorious elements like hypertension. Magnesium, calcium and potassium contents in nuts reduce blood pressure.

The reality in Kenya today and right now is that lifestyle diseases that were at the bottom of the “health concern” list are now a cause of alarm. How do you explain a research done in 2008; where a random sample of 4,000 dwellers in central Nairobi found 700 of them suffering from either high blood pressure or diabetes?

Feeding on nuts has been connected to reduced incidence of coronary heart disease in both men and women and reduces blood cholesterol levels. These benefits can be attributed back to the fibre and heart- healthy unsaturated fats nuts contain.

Other reviews such as that published in Atherosclerosis Report and The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition report that eating nuts on a regular basis may help reduce the risk of diabetes in women. And for people already diagnosed with diabetes, nuts are a healthy addition to a diabetic diet, they contain few carbohydrates and have low glycerine index, which can help control blood sugar levels.

Other benefits of eating nuts and seeds include:

§  Ellagic acid in nuts lowers the risk of cancer.

§  Decreases the risk of prostrate and breast cancers.

§  Increase immunity and reduces the risk of tumor growth.

§  Leads to improved blood flow.

§  Leads to improved sexual potency.

So while we are still at this issue of peanuts; I ‘m a foodie so go ahead and try my guacamole sauce with nuts some time.

Serves 2

Prep: 15 mins; no cooking or fire

2 mashed up guacamoles.

A bag of nuts.

2 finely chopped small pieces of raw tomato.

1 finely chopped small pieces of raw onion.

1.       Mash up the guacamoles into a sauce.

2.       Add the finely chopped raw tomatoes and onions.

3.       Stir in the onions and tomatoes with the guacamole sauce.

4.       Add the bag of nuts and mix them up.

-          Sugar can be added to increase taste for those who love their guacamole with sugar.

-          Guacamole is what we know as avocado in the local “mama mboga” language.

read more at-http://kenyakidz.com/new/index.php/latest-news/17-health/778-nuts-heal-chronic-diseases-studies-show