by Kelli » Thu Nov 25, 2010 6:48 pm
This is a great post about the health benefits of nuts - thank you for posting it! I learned some great things I didn't know, and I LOVE nuts. Makes me feel even better about eating them.
One little heads up I would give about the Omega 3 benefits from nuts: the Omega 3s in walnuts, other nuts, and flaxseeds come in a form called alpha linolenic acid (ALA), which your body has to convert to EPA and DHA Omega 3 fats (the two kinds found in fish oil, and the only types our bodies actually use). Apparently our bodies convert very little of the ALA to EPA and DHA (I'm talking 5% or less). So while the walnuts do provide Omega 3 fats, it is very minimal in terms of benefit to our bodies. I actually wrote an article on this very topic on my healthy eating blog several months ago (with flaxseeds in place of nuts). Just throwing this out there because I think a lot of people just don't know they likely aren't getting a lot of Omega 3 benefits from flaxseeds and nuts (plant based foods) in the end.
Still, that's not a bad thing by any means, and you've gotta love the multitude of health benefits in nuts! As I said, I eat them very often. So I have a question: Has anyone gained undesired weight or fat solely from eating nuts? I will often eat far more than 2 oz per day (what some people recommend limiting your intake of nuts to since they do contain fat). I've never gained weight or fat when I've increased my intake. I know everyone's different, so I wanted to ask. For me, when it comes to how many nuts to eat, I have the attitude of "go nuts" - literally!