The Good the Bad and the Ugly About Nuts and Seeds

The Good

Nuts are one of the richest sources of vitamin E, used by the body to produce red blood cells. Vitamin E is also important to heart health as it is a powerful antioxidant. Just a half cup of almonds provides twice the Recommended Daily Intake ( RDI ) of vitamin E.

Nuts as well as seeds are also a very good source of calcium. Just one ounce of sesame seeds contains as much calcium as a full glass of milk, and four ounces of peanuts, pistachios, pine nuts and sunflower seeds can contain over 500mg of potassium.

Nuts and seeds are also high in dietary fiber, magnesium, vitamin B, folate, niacin and phosphorus.

The Bad

Although nuts and seeds are packed with valuable nutrients, they are also very high in fat as well as calories. But aside from palm and coconuts, the oils that they contain are mono and polyunsaturated and less likely to promote atherosclerosis than animal fat.

A cup of Brazil nuts or Macadamia nuts can contain a whopping1000 calories in a single cup. Although not quite as high in fat, most other nuts still contain up to 800 calories per cup. All nuts should be consumed in small amounts.

The Ugly

Some nuts, particularly peanuts can cause severe allergic reactions. The symptoms of this reaction can be as mild as getting hives, or as severe as going into anaphylactic shock, which could result in death if left untreated.

If not properly stored in a cool place, nuts, particularly peanuts can create aflatoxins, which are powerful substances that can cause liver cancer.

Many chocking deaths have been related to nuts.

Nutty Facts

• Sesame seeds and Pumpkin seeds contain more iron by weight than liver does
• Brazil nuts are the only nuts that are not cultivated. They are harvested from trees in the Amazon basin.
• Coconuts are the world`s leading nut crop. Peanuts are second.
• Peanuts are not really nuts. They are actually a legume.
• All pistachios are beige in color. They are often bleached or dyed before they are shipped.