Go nuts on the nuts-a healthy frenzied indulgence : for these three nuts-Almonds, Cashew, Walnuts

Happiness lies, first of all, in health Life is not merely to be alive, but to be well. Wayne Fields, What the River Knows, The best six doctors anywhere And no one can deny it Are sunshine, water, rest, and air Exercise and diet. These six will gladly you attend If only you are willing Your mind they'll ease Your will they'll mend And charge you not a shilling. Introduction--why you should switch to eating nuts. When you are sauntering around the newly opened glitzy malls of the metros or the new spawning eating joints you are sometimes taken aback by the amount of children and adults showing signs of obesity, sometimes morbid, tagged along with their fawning mothers who believe that your waist circumference is directly proportional to your affluence. Unbridled capitalism and nihilistic consumerism have drawn developed countries like America into a vortex of an obesity epidemic which have produced a massive drain on their health care system and it is time to learn from their mistakes and not to follow them blindly into a path of self destruction which seems to be an inevitable result of rising middle class affluence in India. Because ultimately we realize that the age old idiom holds true that “health is wealth and if health is lost everything is lost”. And what better way to a healthy eating than to pick up a handful of nuts which are a powerhouse of healthy ingredients and are available in abundance at every nook and corner of any city from the smallest grocery stores to the ritzy malls, it is just little a tweak in your mindset and eating habits and you are on your way to a healthy life. So lets see what are the options available and how they can boost up your health by giving a new lease of life from your heart to the brain. Because health is a crown on the head of the healthy, visible only to the sick, and once we lose that crown we want to regain it at any cost and nuts are the surest way to regain that crown. Almonds( Badam): Almond blossom, sent to teach us That the spring days soon will reach us. Packaged beautifully and perched innocuously you will find it any roadside grocery stores this is a nut to go nuts about because of its great crunchy, buttery taste and high nutritive value. What are the benefits It is a power house of energy and nutrition with one oz. or about 24 nuts giving you 160 Kilo Calories, Fat 12gm, carbohydrate 69gm, with protein 69gms and Fiber of 3gm and very low glycemic index. Packed with micronutrients like calcium, magnesium, and of course Vitamin E –it is a powerful potent antioxidant. Much like the legendary Ben10 you can enjoy the crunchy buttery snack while reducing your chance of heart attack, and kick out your lousy cholesterol or LDL, by either adding it into your dahi, salads, or breakfast cereals or just as plain snacks. Purchasing Tips Be a little careful during your purchase and storage-which goes a long way in preserving its revitalizing properties.Stay away from the salted and the flavored one,and the shriveled one and the one with bitter smell. Try to store them in airtight containers in a dry place , avoiding exposure to sunlight. Additional Benefits This wonder nut is very heart friendly it revitalizes it by increasing the good cholesterol or the HDL cholesterol, decrease the C reactive protein (CRP) which causes inflammation in arterial walls, and the high folic acid content reduces your homocysteine level and chances of a heart attack. The wonder nut is also gut friendly due to its high fibre content which has a thorough cleansing effect on your bowels leading to decreased constipation and colonic cancer. For diabetics it is an ideal snack because it not only helps to reduce weight but also prevents sudden rise in blood sugar level. The micronutrients are great energy boosters and keeps you on your toes all day long. You can eat it with morning cereal, salad, shrikhand, or as tasty badam milk in summer, roast it or make a rich almond soup with it When it comes to eating right and exercising, there is no "I'll start tomorrow." Tomorrow is disease. Start it now before you reach for the next packet of deep fried French fries, or potato chips because if you have health, you probably will be happy, and if you have health and happiness, you have all the wealth you need, even if it is not all you want. Cashew Nuts (Kaju) Tips for Buying The mundane everyday fare turns into an exotic heavenly sumptuous meal when you flavor your meal with the exotic ground paste of these wonderful nuts. You can eat it in its many exotic forms raw, salted, and sweetened or ground it into a paste. Try to latch on to the ones which are ivory white in color, compact, uniform in size and colour. The nuts should be free from cracks, molds, spotlessly clean without any rancid smell and be sure to store them in small airtight containers and refrigerate them which the stays fresh for six months. What are the benefits: Cashew nuts give the same benefit as that of a Mediterranean diet as the nut has three fourth of its unsaturated fatty acids as oleic acid, same as that contained in olive oil as a result the obvious happens, your blood gets loaded with good cholesterol –HDL, kicking out the lousy cholesterol or LDL cholesterol. The high content of copper and magnesium provides you the invaluable health benefits of maintaining flexibility of muscles and joints, the magnesium coupling with calcium provides a healthy bone, prevents migraine attacks, and a relaxed mentation. The incidence of gallstones is markedly reduced with lowered risk of weight gain. So next time you come across this wonderful kidney shaped white nuts on the grocery shelf , stop pause before you saunter towards the pizza base because he who takes medicine and neglects to diet wastes the skill of his doctors Walnuts The ‘vegetarian fish’ among the whole gamut of nuts is the walnut. It is richly endowed with omega-3 fatty acid which is the main oil in the fish which provides the health benefits especially the way to a healthy heart . What are the benefits A handful of walnuts each day provides you enough omega-3 fatty acids to banish your lousy cholesterol or LDL cholesterol and raises the good HDL cholesterol-this clears all the clogged arteries and veins, it is also anti-inflammatory reducing the pain and the medicine requirement of a painful arthritic joint. Omega-3 fatty acids are essential for normal brain function and keeps the skin well hydrated, acne free and protects us from the harmful effects of sun A handful of seven shelled nuts or fourteen walnut halves is all required to reap the benefits of its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects from its high content of Vit E which lowers your Blood pressure, mitigates the complications of diabetes mellitus. The antioxidants present in offers a great protection against breast and prostrate cancer. The omega 3 fatty acids also increase your calcium content and prevent osteoporosis. Tips for Buying and preserving Again due care should be taken when buying them if you are going for unshelled ones the nuts should be heavier for its size, the shells should be intact. While the shelled walnuts should not rancid, rubbery or shrivelled . Keep them refrigerated in air tight containers to increase their life span to six months. Before I sign off I just want to quote a Nursery rhyme quoted by What is normal Lipid Profile ? When do you know that you have to head for the healthy nuts? Go to reputed laboratory for a blood check up and ask for your lipid profile preferably every 05 years from the age of 20years: Lipid profile: Sample collection: • Overnight 14 hours fast • No smoking during 14 hrs fast • No strenuous exertionfor preceding 24 hours • Collect in sitting position Desirable values: • Triglycerides <150mg/dl • Total Cholesterol <200mg/dl • HDL Cholesterol (Good Cholesterol) >40mg/dl • LDL Cholesterol(Lousy Cholesterol) <100mg/dl • Non HDL Cholesterol <130mg/dl