Eat almonds for heart health

Eat almonds for heart health

Adding almonds to your diet could be an easy, simple way to have an immediate impact on your heart health.

by Joanne Henning Tedesco — 

Vascular dysfunction is one of the major causes of cardiovascular mortality, and the figures increase with age. A new study is helping researchers begin to understand why people who eat a Mediterranean diet and consume nuts regularly are less likely to develop heart disease.

Men who ate 35 to 40 whole almonds, approximately 50 grams of almonds a day, had improved blood flow and lower blood pressure after four weeks, compared with men who stuck to their normal diets.

This group also had higher blood levels of the antioxidant alpha-tocopherol. Alpha-tocopherol is a form of vitamin E that is most easily absorbed by the human body, and it has previously been linked to heart health. Almonds are also known to be a rich source of fiber, healthy fats and alpha-tocopherol.

The researchers found that the positive effects of almonds were shown in both young and older men — between 20 and 70 years — and emphasized how quickly the almonds were able to induce these changes in blood vessels.

Adding almonds to your diet could be an easy, simple way to have an immediate impact on your heart health.

Source: Free Radical Research.

Joanne Henning Tedesco is editor of AzNetNews.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 33, Number 4, August/September 2014.