They say almonds can improve your memory, but a new study finds that it has many more health benefits. Eating almonds instead of high-carbohydrate snacks could help decrease your waistline.
A daily snack of 1.5 ounces (42 gram) of almonds, instead of a high-carbohydrate muffin, not only helps in reducing belly fat, but also improves heart health, according to a new study in the journal of the American Heart Association. The twelve-week clinical study was conducted in 52 overweight, middle-aged adults, who had bad cholesterol levels, but were otherwise healthy. They were provided all meals and snacks in amounts based on their calorific needs to maintain body weight, added with either one of the two—a muffin, or almonds. The results showed the diet containing the almond snack decreased abdominal fat, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, non-HDL-cholesterol, and other blood fats. Moreover, the diet with the muffin snack reduced HDL (good) cholesterol, as compared to the almond diet.
The lead researcher of the study, Claire Berryman from Pennsylvania State University, says that choosing almonds as a snack may be a simple way to help fight the onset of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases.
Source: IANS
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