If you aren't familiar with the sources of dietary cholesterol, the cholesterol content of nuts may surprise you. Dietary cholesterol comes only from animals and animal products. Foods that come from plants do not contain cholesterol. Nuts provide various health benefits and, when consumed in moderation, are important components of a healthy diet.
Considerations
Your body makes cholesterol, primarily in the liver. Plants do not manufacture cholesterol. As a result, foods from plants contain no dietary cholesterol, while foods from animals, especially organ meats like liver, are high in cholesterol.
Cholesterol Content
All nuts come from plants, so they do not contain any cholesterol. That means you can enjoy cashews, pecans, peanuts, walnuts, pistachio nuts, almonds and other nuts without worrying about your cholesterol intake. However, you may need to limit your consumption of nuts for other reasons.
Warning
Although they contain no cholesterol and provide various vitamins and nutrients, you may need to limit your consumption of nuts because many are high in fat and calories. For example, 1/4 cup of walnuts has about 164 calories and 147 of those are fat calories, according to The World's Healthiest Foods, a website of the George Mateljan Foundation. One-fourth cup of almonds contains 206 calories, 164 of which are fat calories.
Significance
You should not consume more than 300 mg of cholesterol each day, according to the USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Because nuts contain no cholesterol, they are a valuable addition to a healthy diet. Not only do nuts contain no cholesterol, they can actually help lower high blood cholesterol, according to MayoClinic.com, which lists nuts as one of the top five foods that can lower your cholesterol numbers.
Benefits
Nuts provide various health benefits. The most significant include keeping your blood vessels healthy and reducing your risk of heart disease. Nuts are also high in fiber, which contributes to a healthy colon. A 1/4 cup serving of almonds contains 4 g of fiber, according to The World's Healthiest Foods, and the same size serving of walnuts has almost 2 g of fiber. The healthiest choices of nuts include walnuts, almonds, cashews, peanuts, filberts and pistachios, according to Harvard Medical School's Harvard Health Publications.
