It's just plain nutty - but it helps your heart!

I just read an interesting article online about the heart healthy benefits of eating nuts. According to Dr. Gerald Gau (who is a Mayo Clinic preventive cardiologist and a specialist in internal medicine and cardiovascular diseases), studies show that eating nuts can help your heart by:

• lowering the LDL, low-density lipoprotein or "bad," cholesterol level in the blood
  
• reducing your risk of developing blood clots that can cause a fatal heart attack
  
• improving the health of the lining of your arteries
  

According to the article, walnuts are the most healthy for you, but you can also enjoy hazelnuts, almonds, macadamia nuts and pecans are also good for your heart. Even peanuts, which are not nuts at all but legumes, are good for you - as long as you eat them in moderation, of course.

The correct amount is a tiny handful once a day, and used in place of saturated fats.

The article lists the following reasons that nuts are so good for you: "...the unsaturated fats in nuts — both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats — lower bad cholesterol levels. Many nuts are also rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3s are a healthy form of fatty acids that seem to help your heart by, among other things, preventing dangerous heart rhythms that can lead to heart attacks. Omega-3 fatty acids are also found in fish, but nuts are one of the best plant-based sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Nuts also have lots of arginine, which is a molecule that increases the production of nitric oxide in your body, which may in turn help improve the health of your artery walls and make them more flexible and less prone to blood clots. Other substances in nuts that could improve your heart health include Vitamin E and fiber."

To read the entire article about why nuts are good for your heart, just click the link.,