Heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control, or CDC. Although you may watch what you eat and exercise regularly, you may also want to incorporate pistachio nuts into your daily diet to help protect yourself against heart disease. Pistachios are packed full of nutrients that lower your risks for cardiovascular disease by lowering your cholesterol levels and disengaging inflammation at the cellular level, according to research from Penn State University.
Identification
Pistachios are cholesterol-free tree nuts indigenous to Asia that are grown in the western and southern United States as well as Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, Syria, Greece and India. Pistachio trees grow up to 30 feet tall, and are dioecious, meaning that female and male flowers grow on separate trees. Therefore, pollination must occur between the two trees, or branches from male trees are grafted onto female trees to produce pistachio nuts, according to the California Rare Fruit Growers organization, a worldwide association of commercial food growers, botanists and professional and amateur horticulturists.
Nutritional Content
One cup, or 123g, of unsalted, dry-roasted pistachio nuts contains 13g of dietary fiber and 26g of protein. Pistachio nuts are also good sources of manganese, copper and Vitamin B6. The nuts also contain thiamine, a B-complex vitamin necessary for several bodily functions, including muscle function, nervous system function, digestion and carbohydrate metabolism, according to MedlinePlus. Although pistachio nuts are high in fats, one cup of dry-roasted, unsalted pistachio nuts contains only 7g of saturated fats, which are non-heart healthy fats, and 57g of mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fats, which are heart-healthy fats.
Active Constituents
Pistachios contain more antioxidants, which are nutrients that protect cells from free radical damage, than any other snack nut. In fact, pistachios contain 20 percent more antioxidants than blueberries, 50 percent more antioxidants than blackberries and twice the amount of antioxidants in strawberries or red wine, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture research.
Clinical Trial
Lead researcher Dr. Penny Kris-Etherton of Penn State University's Nutritional Sciences Department conducted a 2008 study examining the effect pistachios have on cardiovascular health risk factors, including genetic activity regarding bodily inflammation, blood pressure and cholesterol. Twenty-eight healthy woman and men ranging from age 30 to age 70 who had slightly elevated cholesterol levels were broken into three groups and put on cholesterol-lowering diets for four weeks. The first group did not eat pistachios, the second group ate 1½ oz. of pistachios per day and the third group ate 3 oz. of pistachios per day for four weeks. Both groups that ate pistachios every day showed reduced cellular inflammation, reduced total cholesterol levels and reduced LDL-C cholesterol, a type that may lead to cardiovascular disease, according to the study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Expert Insight
Experts with the National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute, or NHBLI, a division of the National Institutes of Health, suggest eating according to their DASH plan to lower your blood pressure or reduce the risk of developing high blood pressure. The DASH plan, or dietary approach to stopping hypertension, suggests that you eat a diet rich in nuts, poultry, whole grains and fish, and severely limit your intake of sweets, sugared beverages and red meat.
References
- Centers for Disease Control: Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention
- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition: Effects of Pistachios on Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors
- American Association for the Advancement of Science, Eureka Alert: Pistachios are Good for the Heart
- National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute: NIH: Healthy Eating
- California Rare Fruit Growers: Pistachio Fruit Facts
