Healthy Almonds

Want a great source of protein and fiber?  Try healthy almonds!

They’re an easy addition to your diet, a truly easy health food.  You can eat them as a snack, put them in salads, on cereals… whatever!

Almonds are not nuts!

While we commonly class almonds as nuts, in reality the almond is a seed.  The fruit of the almond tree has stone-like seeds like its cousins, apricots and peaches.  So the seed of the almond fruit is what we call almond nuts. 

Almonds are freshest in mid-summer, because that is the height of the almond season.

Reasons to eat almonds. . .

As mentioned, almonds are a good source of protein and fiber.  However, there are even more beneficial nutrients in healthy almonds.  They also have:

• Vitamin E
• Manganese
• Magnesium
• Copper
• Riboflavin (vitamin B2)
• Phosphorus

The two trace minerals, manganese and copper, are essential parts of superoxide dismutase which fights free radicals produced within the mitochondria, the energy producing factories within every cell.  Also, vitamin B2 helps the body produce energy, so almonds are full of substances to help rev up your energy levels!

Almonds also are a source of heart-healthy monounsaturated fat.  (This is the same kind of fatty acids found in olive oil.)

More Healthy Almond Benefits

Almonds have been found to lessen increases in blood sugar after eating which helps protect against diabetes and cardiovascular disease.  They also contain antioxidants to promote health.

Other benefits from eating almonds include fighting obesity by increasing the sense of “satisfaction” after eating, which helps produce greater and longer sustained weight loss.

Some studies have also shown a link between an almond-rich diet and decreased problems with Alzheimer’s Disease.  Almond consumption has also been shown to have an effect on the prevention of colon cancer.

Watch Out for Imposters

If you are buying imported almonds, be careful that you are truly buying almonds and not apricot kernels.  The two look very much alike and even taste a lot alike, but apricot kernels do not have the same health benefits as almonds do.

Get hold of the real deal, and enjoy healthy almonds for an easy, healthy addition to your diet!  They’re one of the items on the Superfoods list you don’t want to miss!