More to Almonds

While yesterday's note on almonds said a lot, there is still more to the almond story. One of the main components in almonds is fiber. We all know that we need fiber in our diets and most of us know that we get way to little fiber in our diets. I mentioned yesterday that almonds decrease the absorption of carbohydrates, but they also decrease the absorption of fat.

While the fiber assists as mentioned above, it also serves to keep the bowel functioning normally and may prevent colon cancer as a result. Also, remember that it contains antioxidants which can boost the immune system and help prevent cancer as well.

Almonds also help reduce c-reactive protein which is an indicator of inflammation in the body. This helps prevent artery damaging inflammation. And as you might expect homocysteine levels are also decreased.

Walnuts

Walnuts are another super food with many benefits. Of course most of you probably know that walnuts are rich in omega 3, but there are many other benefits to walnuts. They are also a wonderful source of fiber. How many people out there do not eat nuts because they are "high in fat"? That is not the issue here. The fat in walnuts is good fat, omega 3. In addition, if you eat a handful or so a week it will help with constipation, one the biggest complaints of people over the age of 65. Walnuts are both a soluble and insoluble source of fiber. They bind with fatty acids, decrease the stomach emptying time and thereby decrease the speed at which sugar is absorbed into the blood stream. Diabetics out there, can you see how this might help you?

Walnuts are also a rich plant source of protein and besides the omega 3s, they are also have B vitamins and Vitamin E.

Walnuts have been shown to help protect against heart disease and they also have been shown to decrease C-Reactive protein. See my notes about C-Reactive protein on 11/20/08. This leads me right into my thoughts about anti-inflammatories which is the key to many diseases.

C-Reactive Protein

As I mentioned yesterday, today I want to talk about C-Reactive Protein. This is a blood test and was actually the test used in the JUPITER study mentioned yesterday. Many physicians shy away from utilizing this test, but it is an excellent marker of inflammation in the body. So why is this so important.

In the cholesterol study I spoke about yesterday, all of the participants had C-Reactive Protein (CRP) levels done. If you have an elevated C-Reactive Protein in your body, you have higher levels of inflammation in your body. Inflammation is the key here.

Inflammation has been established as the prime contributor to heart disease and stroke. Oxidation occurs with inflammation and this is when the plaque in a blood vessel can be set free to move along and block a smaller vessel in the heart or in the brain.

By the way, a side effect of the statin drugs is that they decrease inflammation. So is it really the cholesterol we need to worry about, or is it the amount of inflammation? I say inflammation. So do we need statins to decrease inflammation? I don't believe that is our first or best choice.

There are lots of natural ways to decrease inflammation. Omega 3 is one of the best ways to decrease inflammation. See more on this in my earlier posts on omega 3.