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First things first: forget the idea that eating nuts will make you fat. Nuts are full of healthy fats that your body can’t produce by itself, so you should be nibbling on nuts every day for healthier skin and a healthier brain. And now there’s even better news for people who like to go nuts: eating a handful a day can help prevent heart disease by lowering cholesterol – thanks, again, to those good fats.

What the scientists have to say

A study published on Monday in the American Medical Association’s Archives of Internal Medicine showed that people who ate 2.4 ounces of nuts a day lowered their blood cholesterol level by 5.1 per cent, and the bad kind of cholesterol (LDL cholesterol) dropped in the nut-eaters by an impressive 7.1 per cent, while triglyceride levels showed an amazing drop of 10.2 per cent.

It seems nuts also help to prevent type 2 diabetes, and illness on a dramatic increase in the UK. And the best news of all: it’s official that nuts won’t make you gain weight (as long as your diet, in general, is healthy).

The AFP, via Yahoo News, reported that ‘Increasing the consumption of nuts as part of an otherwise prudent diet can be expected to favourably affect blood lipid levels… and have the potential to lower coronary heart disease risk’.

Any nut will do

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When it comes to choosing nuts, go nuts! The research showed that all nuts will help to lower cholesterol, but results were better in people who weren’t overweight. The good news, though, is that people who started out with higher levels of LDL cholesterol benefitted most from the nutty treatment.

A milk alternative

If you’re looking for a new way to go nuts with your diet, consider trying nut milk. It’s a delicious alternative to dairy, and all you need to make it is some nuts, water, honey and a blender. Try this recipe for better heart health.

Tags: healthy brain, Healthy skin, nuts