3 Reasons to Make Brazil Nuts Your New Snack Food

Transitioning to a healthier diet is hard, and snacking is one of the major reasons why. As long as you can cook and have access to a few good grocery stores, it's not that hard to make healthy changes to your main meals of the day. However, everyone gets hungry between meals now and then, and replacing unhealthy packaged convenience snacks with something good for you often takes more work than it seems to be worth. As a result, snacks are often the downfall of those attempting to live a healthier life. But there are snacks out there that are tasty, filling, convenient, and healthy. Nuts are a good example, and Brazil nuts in particular have some great benefits that you may not have heard of. Take a look at a few reasons to choose Brazil nuts when you want a healthy snack.

Up Your Selenium Intake

One of the best things that Brazil nuts have going for them is their high selenium content. Selenium is a trace mineral that you may not think much about, because your body doesn't require a lot of it. But as it turns out, adding more selenium to your diet can have a big impact on your health. Particularly, it can lower your risk of certain cancers and other diseases.

A 1996 study that involved giving selenium to patients with a history of skin cancers showed that the mineral didn't significantly reduce skin cancer risk. However, it turned out that the selenium supplements did reduce the risk of other cancers, like prostate, colon, and lung cancer. Scientists have also found that people with low levels of selenium are more likely to die from AIDS and more prone to reproductive problems.

Protect Your Heart

If you're concerned about your heart health, you have another good reason to look at adding Brazil nuts to your diet—they're one of several nuts that contains elements that are beneficial for your heart. Brazil nuts contain palmitoleic acid and oleic acid, both of which are monounsaturated fatty acids that have the effect of reducing LDL cholesterol, sometimes called "bad" cholesterol, and increasing your levels of HDL cholesterol, or "good" cholesterol.

What this means for you is that eating Brazil nuts can lessen your risk of heart disease or of having a stroke. If you have a family history of heart disease or risk factors for heart disease, it's especially important to make sure that you're taking steps to protect your heart.

Weight Management

Brazil nuts pack a lot of calories into a small package—33 in just one kernel. If you're a dieter, you have to be careful to monitor your intake of Brazil nuts, because eating too many of them can result in weight gain if you're not careful. However, the high calorie count means that they'll also fill you up quickly and provide a needed energy boost at the same time. If you eat them sparingly, they can help you go longer between meals and forgo snacks full of empty calories, which can help you lose weight.

If you're underweight, Brazil nuts can provide a way to add pounds without the need to eat foods that are high in unhealthy fats, sugars, and other unwanted ingredients. If you need to add some weight, you still want to be able to do it in a way that doesn't have side effects that negatively impact your overall health. Brazil nuts are a healthy source of additional calories.

Don't let the high-calorie snacks that are high in fat, sugar, or sodium interfere with your desire to live a healthier life and eat more nutritiously. Brazil nuts are just one healthy sack that can help you stick to a meal plan that's better for your health. Learn more about Brazil nuts through a website like www.sincerelynuts.com.

Share