The Nutty Truth About Nuts

Did You Know ... The number one killer of American women is heart disease. Heart disease is not isolated to men. Women need to be just as careful with their lifestyle to reduce their risk of developing heart disease. This is especially true if you are post-menopausal.

Did You Know ... Eating nuts a few times per week may significantly lower risk for developing heart disease. Eating nuts 5 times per week or more may reduce risk by over 50% when compared to those who don't consume nuts!

What makes nuts so special?
* Usaturated fat-- While the total fat content of nuts is high (48-74% by weight), the type of fat is mostly unsaturated. Importantly, most nuts are rich in oleic acid (a monounsaturated fat).
* Fiber -- Nuts are high in dietary fiber.
*Vitamin E -- Nuts are an excellent source of vitamin E which is known to be beneficial to heart health. In fact, nuts contain more vitamin E than any other food apart from extracted vegetable oils. The best nuts for vitamin E content are almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, and pecans.
* Minerals -- Nuts are a rich source of copper and magnesium. These two minerals have positive effects on the level of blood serum lipids.

Caution --
It should be noted that nuts are still high in fat, thus, calories. If you struggle with weight problems, be sure to substitute nuts for foods you would normally eat. Do not include them in addition to your diet, else, you are very likely to gain weight.

Here's a list of nut serving sizes --
Note: For each serving of nuts, there are 45 calories and 5 grams of fat (the "good" kind!). The serving sizes are not very big!

Type of nuts....................Amount
Almonds...........................6 nuts
Cashews...........................6 nuts
Mixed nuts(50% peanuts)...6 nuts
Peanuts............................10 nuts
Pecans..............................4 halves

If you do not like to eat nuts plain, add them to foods. You can add them to salads, yogurt, vegetable dishes, or try blending them in as part of a milk shake. Enjoy something nutty today!

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Written by: Laura S. Garrett, RD -- Registered Dietitian & ACE Certified Personal Trainer --Keep Laura's advice at your fingertips, wherever you and your cell phone go with"Text ur R.D." -- Learn more at: http://www.NutrActive.com

Multivitamin = Better Health?

Trying to incorporate healthier lifestyle changes often brings into question multivitamin use -- Should you take a daily multivitamin? Which of the many choices on the market is right for you? Fact is most Americans fall short of consuming many of the recommended nutrients necessary to maintain optimum health. Taking a basic daily multivitamin is a good preventive action. Convenience foods and fast foods are much to blame. We are busy and too often opt for the quick and easy when it comes to meals.

While Western countries are no longer afflicted with vitamin deficient disease such as scurvy (not enough vitamin C) or rickets (not enough vitamin D), degenerative diseases such as heart disease and osteoporosis are still on the rise. So, what's commonly missing in our diets? Less than 1 in 5 Americans consume enough vitamin E. Only 1 in 4 get enough vitamin K. And, fewer than 1/2 get enough vitamin A or calcium in their diet. It's these types of nutritional inadequacies that may be setting us up for the common degenerative diseases such as heart disease, osteoporosis, cancer and others. Simply taking a daily multivitamin is an easy, inexpensive way to bridge these nutritional gaps. It should be noted that a standard multivitamin will not contain enough calcium. A separate calcium supplement is advisable unless you truly include 3 to 4 servings of dairy in your diet every single day.

A basic multivitamin is one that doesn't go beyond 100% of the recommended amount. What about super formulas that go beyond the RDAs? Taking a supplement that goes above and beyond 100% can introduce new health problems. You will be consuming more than the recommended safe upper limit. What about taking more than one supplement formulation? Let's say you start taking high dose multivitamin and also want to take a separate antioxidant formula. You would potentially be getting more than 10,000 IU for vitamin A exceeding it's safe upper limit and this is not even counting the amount of vitamin A naturally consumed in your diet. Studies have shown over supplementing with one antioxidant can cause health risks. Taking a high dose multivitamin with a prostate formula or immune boosting formula could put your consumption of zinc over 50 mg ultimately interfering with copper absorption resulting in a copper deficiency! Bottom line -- extra nutritional supplementation does not = better health!

Summary ---
Eating a healthy, well balanced diet is the best defense against nutritionally related diseases. Including a basic daily multivitamin is recommended. Antioxidants can help prevent diseases when they come from food sources, but not excessive amounts via supplements which can actually have the opposite effect. Remember -- Fresh is best!

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Written by: Laura S. Garrett, RD
-- Registered Dietitian & ACE Certified Personal Trainer
-- Keep Laura's advice at your fingertips, wherever you and your cell phone go with "Text ur R.D." -- Learn more at: http://www.NutrActive.com