Mahoning Valley Forum

A story on the TV today claims that eating nuts has many positive effects on your health.

 Several epidemiological (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemiological) studies have revealed that people who consume nuts regularly are less likely to suffer from coronary heart disease (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronary_heart_disease) (CHD).^{[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-5)} Nuts were first linked to protection against CHD in 1993.^{[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-6)} Since then many clinical trials (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinical_trial) have found that consumption of various nuts such as almonds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almond) and walnuts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walnut) can lower serum LDL (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LDL) cholesterol concentrations. Although nuts contain various substances thought to possess cardioprotective effects, scientists believe that their Omega 3 fatty acid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_acid) profile is at least in part responsible for the hypolipidemic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypolipidemic) response observed in clinical trials.^{[7] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-7)}
In addition to possessing cardioprotective effects, nuts generally have a very low glycemic index (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycemic_index) (GI).^{[8] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-mendosa-8)} Consequently, dietitians frequently recommend nuts be included in diets prescribed for patients with insulin resistance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin_resistance) problems such as diabetes mellitus type 2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes_mellitus_type_2).^{[9] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-9)}
One study found that people who eat nuts live two to three years longer than those who do not.^{[10] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-10)} However, this may be because people who eat nuts tend to eat less junk food (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junk_food).^{[11] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-11)}
Nuts contain the essential fatty acids (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_fatty_acids) linoleic and linolenic acids, and the fats in nuts for the most part are unsaturated fats (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsaturated_fats), including monounsaturated fats (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monounsaturated_fats).
Many nuts are good sources of vitamins E and B₂, and are rich in protein, folate, fiber, and essential minerals such as magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, and selenium.^{[12] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-12)}
Nuts are most healthy in their raw form.^{[13] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-bbc-13)} The reason is that up to 15% of the healthy oils that naturally occur in nuts are lost during the roasting process.
Raw or unroasted walnuts were found to have twice as many antioxidants (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antioxidants) as other nuts.^{[13] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-bbc-13)} Although initial studies suggested that antioxidants might promote health, later large clinical trials did not detect any benefit and suggested instead that excess supplementation of antioxidant supplements is harmful.<sup>[14] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-14)[15] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#cite_note-15)

As to being "a new health food", that's a crock. Their benificial properties have been known for more years than my life span on God's green earth.</sup>

I purchased some Hazelnuts at the Cornersburg Sparkle Market today.
I also have some Black Walnuts that I purchased at the Farmers' Market.

Great nuts. Back home, my Grandmother always kept a good supply of them in the house for us to snack on, and always said that they were better for me than candy.

CRICKETS + NUTS + WATER + RAW VEGETABLES = LONG AND HAPPY LIFE. IT WILL ALSO BE EASIER ON THE WALLET.