Written by:
John Henry R. Thomas | WVUGo Media- Sports and Active Lifestyle
Writer
Nuts have many uses other than a midday snack that can help individuals with protein balances and energy throughout their day.
A handful of regular peanuts taken regularly can help benefit bad cholesterol and give an energy boost that will not cause a crash that caffeine or other stimulants are associated with. Peanuts are also helpful in growth and development because of their dietary proteins according Nutrition-and-You. They can also help with skin health through vitamins such as vitamin C which helps repair tissues and heals cuts and bruises faster. Peanuts are versatile and can be added to many different dishes both healthy and not, but they can also be eaten by themselves, turned into peanut butter or roasted to get its full nutrients. Ways to use peanuts in recipes and cooking is to add to stir fry or turned into a sauce.
Peanuts are not the only nuts that have these properties. The wide variety of nuts openly available to the public offer different and similar positive traits of impacting well-being.
Another popular choice of nuts are almonds. Almonds share a lot of the same helpful properties that peanuts have such as their skin health and energy. Almonds, like peanuts, also help with reduction of bad cholesterol. One of the different properties that almonds have is that they are anti-inflammatory because they are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Almonds can be eaten by themselves, in yogurt, cereal, trail mix or whichever way is preferred. They can also be mixed with a salad in replace of croutons.
Walnuts contain omega-3 fatty acids as well. Unlike any other nuts, walnuts have the most omega-3 fatty acids according to Healthline. This means that only one to two grams of walnuts per day will give your recommended amount of those fatty acids for that day. Walnuts promote gut and stomach health too. An average human’s gut contains healthy bacteria called microbiotas and by eating walnuts your risk of obesity and heart disease. Walnuts can be eaten by themselves or in a salad, but also baked into bread or replacing the crust on baked dishes like chicken and fish.
Hazelnuts, used for many different recipes, is another nut that can help the overall health of a person. It has higher levels of copper and manganese than most nuts according to Nutrition Advance. Manganese is good to help build, strengthen, and grow bones along with faster healing. Copper also helps with bone strength and building healthy blood vessels. An ounce of hazelnuts each day will improve basic health for long term function and activity. Like cashews, hazelnuts are often roasted and eaten that way. Hazelnuts can also be mixed with salads or chopped up and added into baking or cooking recipes like in pastries.
Cashews are a very popular snack that many enjoy without knowing its health benefits. Like other nuts, cashews have high amounts of magnesium according to Organic Facts. Magnesium is good for stable blood pressure and bone strength. Cashews also help fight risks of type 2 diabetes because they have little sugar, low sodium and cholesterol they do carry is not damaging or detrimental to health. While often eaten alone, cashews prove to be a good replacement for chips and pretzels by roasting them with vegetable oil or a glaze, spices or flavoring powders and topped with sugar or salt.
These are only five nuts out of the wide variety that are available at any given grocery store or farmers market. Although many share the same minerals and properties of many other nuts, they all serve unique purposes. Heart, skin and bone health are just a few of the benefits nuts offer for people. A handful of your favorite nuts each day is enough to help promote a healthy body environment for an individual to grow and get stronger.
About the Author
John Henry Thomas is a WVUGO staff writer that writes articles on adventure/sightseeing
and student well-being. He is currently a sophomore at WVU going for his undergraduate
degree in journalism with a minor in legal studies.
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