Why nuts are considered healthy snacks? How about nut drink and oil?
From the previous post regarding our evolving snacking behavior, we know that worldwide, not just in Singapore:
1) People are snacking more frequently and healthily
2) Less sugar and more proteins in newer snacks
3) More people are replacing breakfast with snacks
Nuts are part of these snacking movement as they are naturally cholesterol free and one of the top favourite for healthy plant-based snacks. These are some of the key ingredients that contributed to our health:
1) Unsaturated fats - There are the 'good' fats that help to lower your bad cholesterol content
2) Omega-3 - Yes, we know this Omega-3 is found in salmon but they are also found in nuts! Some like walnuts, hazelnuts and peanuts are loaded with them, so if you dislike the fishy smell, this is a good replacement.
3) Vitamin E antioxidants - Almonds, hazelnuts and pine nuts are high in these antioxidants content. One of nature's best way to delay aging is to take these naturally occurring antioxidants!
4) L-arginine - Walnuts, hazelnuts and pecans are full of L-arginine, which is an amino acid to make proteins and build muscles
5) Vitamin B - Want better skin? Take more walnuts, almonds and cashews for glowing and smoother skin. These Vitamin B helps to reduce the appearances of wrinkles and enable skin to remain moist.
Some widely known and proven health benefits include the following:
1) Reducing risk of Type 2 diabetes
2) Reducing your LDL or bad cholesterol
3) Improve health of your arteries
4) Lower risk of inflammation due to heart illnesses
5) Reduce risk of blood clots
It does not surprise us. Highly loaded with dietary fiber and proteins, nuts are a great healthy snack to fill up your stomach and avoid over eating. They also contain high levels of unsaturated fats, which is healthy fats that contribute to 'good' cholesterol. Not just that, most nuts have low Glycemic Index (GI), which means that they do not raise your blood sugar quickly, like rice and ice cream.
Daily serving is a handful or around 30g so do not consume too much in a day. Nuts with additional salt, flavouring and seasoning are also not as healthy. Singaporeans prefer baked unsalted nuts more than roasted with salt nuts so the sodium content is reduced too.
What about nut oil?
Nut oil also do contain similar health benefits but they do not have the dietary fiber. They do retain the vitamins but that also depends on your method of cooking.
Peanut oil is recommended to be used for frying and high heat cooking, which may nullify the health benefits. Walnut oil is the healthiest but they are only for salad dressing as high heat will give it a bitter taste.
Nut Butter
Besides oil, nut butter is actually a delicious way to consume more protein. Our Organic nut butter has no additional sugar or salt, 100% comes from nuts. They are creamy and smooth, perfect to be eaten with biscuits, toast, salad, yoghurt or smoothie. If you find nuts too hard, these spreadable nut butter would be good as a condiment or even for kids.
Nut Milk/Drink
Definitely nut drink is a good way to boost your body's vitamins intake. Nut milk or mylk trumps cow milk in their lower calories and also for their high Vitamin E content.
The calcium and protein content can be similar to cow milk, and it is a good alternative for people who are lactose intolerant. Many adults do not like the taste of cow milk but there are many different kinds of nut drink you can choose from to replace it.
For the healthiest nut drink, we do have the Rude Health Ultimate Almond drink which contains only almonds and water. It's the purest form you can get without blending them yourself.
When added into coffee and other beverages, Organic Almond drink would be more flavourful. Cashew and hazelnut drinks are more distinctive and unique in their taste while Chocolate hazelnut drink is highly popular as a stand-alone drink.
All have zero added sugar where you can either take them as a healthy drink, or add your preferred amount of sweeteners or honey. Take them with our granola or oats and start of your day with a nutritious breakfast.
Eat, snack or drink nuts? It's doesn't matter just as long as you stay healthy!