Almonds Health Benefits

Almonds uses as food are numerous - as seed, flour, oil, milk etc. Almonds have many health benefits - it lowers LDL cholesterol, it is rich in vitamin E and some vitamins and minerals. It is also very caloric food, so be careful regarding amounts...

100 grams of almonds on average has:

- 18g of protein - 9g of carbohydrates - 54g of fats - around 600 kcal - 10g of fibers - 26mg of vitamin E - 880mg of potassium - 250mg of calcium - 170mg of magnesium - 4mg of iron - 2mg of zinc

Also, per 100 grams, almonds have around 7.8g of essential amino acids, 4.6g of saturated fats, 36.5g of monounsaturated fats and around 10g of polyunsaturated fats.

Health Benefits of Almonds

It has been shown that almonds lower LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) and thus promote better HDL (good cholesterol) / LDL ratio and better cardiovascular health. Also, due to higher content of natural vitamin E, almonds help fight free radicals and promote overall well being.

Some of other almonds health benefits include:

- when combined with high glycemic foods, almonds decrease glycemic index of meal and slow down increase in blood sugar. Generally, almonds are great for fighting diabetes.

Note: never mix high glycemic foods with high fats foods, not even with almonds. If you do, they can be used for 'damage control', but ...

- fibers in almonds promote health of gastrointestinal system. Some studies have suggested that almonds also help fight colon cancer, but that is still not proven.

- almonds are great for skin, hair and nails - due to combination of healthy fats, fat soluble vitamin E and abundance of minerals, regular consumption of almonds can help in keeping skin, hair and nails good looking and healthy. Your joints will be happy, too. Because of this, almond oil is often used in skin products - soaps, creams and similar - these products can be enriched with artificial vitamin E or have other ingredients added - read labels.

Only problem with almonds is that they are so - good :) One can eat plenty of them and increase daily calorie intake significantly. This is not bad for some skinny ectomorph, but for endomorphs portion control is very important - 20 to 30 grams (one ounce) of almonds per day are good measure for this healthy food.