Nuts Over Almonds
The next time you’re looking for antioxidant-rich foods, make sure to add almonds to your shopping list. Not only almonds are rich in vitamin E, fiber and magnesium, they contains antioxidants in levels comparable to those of healthy foods such as broccoli and tea. This high antioxidant content makes eating a handful of almonds a day more important than ever for good health.
Antioxidants serve to deactivate free radicals, rogue elements in the body that can destroy cells and potentially lead to problems such as heart disease, cancer and stroke. Researchers also found that almonds contain high levels of several antioxidant compounds, similar to the levels in many fruits and vegetables. This new research shows a serving of almonds contains the same amount of antioxidants called flavonoids as a serving of broccoli. And a one ounce serving of almonds provides as much of these antioxidants as found in a cup of brewed black or green tea, in addition to being an excellent source of vitamin E.
Furthermore, the researchers noted that the main compounds found in almonds - catechin, epicatechin and kaempferol - are also the ones that provide the highest degree of protection against cell death from oxidants, a mechanism that appears to play an important role in reducing the rick of chronic diseases.
This analysis of almond skin antioxidants sheds more light on all the nutrients in almonds that may provide a health benefit. These new findings coupled with past results lay the groundwork for future clinical trials that examine the link between whole almond consumption and the reduced rick of heart disease and other chronic conditions.
The researchers are now conducting additional phases of antioxidant research to describe how efficiently the human body extracts and absorbs these compounds from almonds.
Previous studies have shown that the vitamin E found naturally in almonds, together with its flavonoids and other antioxidants, work synergistically to prevent LDL, or ‘bad’ cholesterol from being oxidised. In fact, this research found that together vitamin E and almond flavonoids were more than twice as effective as when they were administered separately. These findings further demonstrates how the nutrients in whole foods such as almonds can positively impact health.
In addition to its high antioxidant content,a one-once, 160 calorie handful of almonds is an excellent source of vitamin E and magnesium, a good source of protein and fiber, and offers heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, potassium, calcium, phosphorous and iron.
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