Best-selling diet book author Dr. Robert Atkins wrote that you should eat more nuts because there is a correlation between greater nut consumption and a lower risk of heart attacks. Atkins' diets are based on the premise that carbohydrates cause people to become fat so he recommends high-fat, high-protein, low-carbohydrate nuts. Nuts also have several other nutrients that are good for your health, wrote Atkins. The list includes calcium, copper, folic acid, magnesium, niacin, potassium, vitamin B6 and zinc.
Nuts Good For Heart
According to "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution," many nuts fight cardiovascular disease because they are loaded with antioxidants like vitamin E and lignans that lower bad cholesterol.
Atkins cites three studies that prove nuts help the heart: "Frequent Nut Consumption and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in Women," "Nut Consumption, Lipids and Risk of a Coronary Event," and "Effect of Pistachio Nuts on Serum Lipids in Patients with Moderate Hypercholesterolemia." These studies were published in the "British Medical Journal' in 1998, "Clinical Cardiology" in 1999, and "Journal of the American College of Nutrition" in 1999.
Low-Carbohydrate Nuts
Atkins believed that foods with fewer digestible carbohydrates are better because digestible carbohydrates are converted into blood sugar in the body and excess sugar is stored as fat. "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution" lists 10 nuts on its Carbohydrate Gram Counter chart, which presents the number of grams of digestible carbohydrates in one serving of food. This means that the number of grams of indigestible fiber is subtracted from the total number of carbohydrate grams.
A serving of nuts is 2 tbsp and walnuts, with 1.7 grams of carbohydrates per serving, are the first nut on Atkins' Gram Counter list. They are followed by pecans (2.1), macadamia (2.3), pine nuts (2.4), hazelnuts (2.8), peanuts (3.4), almonds (3.6), pistachio nuts (4.7), almond butter (6.8) and peanut butter (6.9).
High-Protein Nuts
Atkins believed that high-protein foods are healthy. In "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution," he lists several nuts, condiments, oils and vinegars, cheeses, cold cuts, vegetables and fruits that should be added into meals to make them higher in protein.
Protein represents between 10 to 17 percent of the calories in nuts. His list of recommended high-protein nuts includes macadamia nuts, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, unsweetened macadamia or almond butter, and unsweetened peanut butter. He recommends storing the nuts in freezers to keep them fresher longer.
High-Fat Nuts
"Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution" reports that it is a big mistake to eliminate high-fat foods from your diet. Nuts have a lot of omega-6 fatty acids that Atkins considered heart-healthy. Fat represents between 35 to 70 percent of the calories in nuts. Macadamia nuts are 70 percent fat and, thus, is Atkins' favorite nut. Coconuts have the least amount of fat.
"Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease" lists the fat content of numerous nuts. Almonds have 3.9g fat per serving, cashews 12.8g, macadamia 20.3g, peanuts 4.5g, pecans 5.2g and walnuts 4.8g.
References
- "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution;" Dr. Robert Atkins; 2002
- "Atkins Diabetes Revolution;" Dr. Robert Atkins, Mary Vernon and Jacqueline Eberstein; 2004
- "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program For Reversing Heart Disease;" Dr. Dean Ornish; 1996
- "Essentials for Health and Wellness;" Gordon Edlin, Eric Golanty, Kelli McCormack Brown; 2000
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