Almonds: Grab A Handful For Your Heart (NAPSA)—Just about everyone’s nuts about almonds. First, the Food & Drug Administration recently announced a health claim for almonds and several other nuts, saying: “Scientific evidence suggests but does not prove that eating 1.5 ounces per day of most nuts, including almonds, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reducetherisk of heart disease.” One and a half ounces equals 1/3 cup, or about 34 almonds. Then, The Journal of the American Medical Association published a study about almonds’ significant role in a cholesterol-lowering eating plan that works as well as a starting dose of cholesterol-lowering drugs. This “Portfolio” eating plan was created by the University of Toronto. Patients in the “Portfolio” eating plan study ate a menu of foods low in saturated fat and high in plant sterols, such as almonds, soy burgers, oat bran, beans and other heart-healthy foods. Comparison groups either ate a low-fat diet, or combined a low-fat diet with lovastatin, a cholesterol-low- ering drug.In four weeks, both the people taking the lovastatin and the people eating almonds and foods high in plant sterols lowered their cholesterol by approximately 30 percent. Scientists have known about almonds’ heart-healthy benefits for many years, but this recent newsis just one more reason to “grab a handful for the heart,” according to Carolyn O'Neil, M.S., R.D. “Almondsare a perfect snack— they’re tasty and crunchy,” she said. “And there’s all the research @ on their ability to lower cholesterol because they contain hearthealthy unsaturated fats. Plus, ounce for ounce, almonds are the most nutrition-packed nut.” A 1.5-ounce handful of almonds is a leading source of vitamin E and magnesium and offers protein, fiber, potassium, calcium, phosphorus andiron in 246 calories. O’Neil suggested eating them as a snack, in place of less nutritious foods such as popcorn, pretzels and potato chips. Someof her other favorite ways to eat almonds: Eat a handful of whole, nat- ural almonds as a snack with a piece offruit. Sprinkle a few sliced almonds in granola, cold cereal and hot cereal. Sprinkle someslivered almondsin a salad. * Include chopped almonds in a stir-fry—roast a few in a dry pan or wok, and then set them aside before cooking the other ingredients. Sprinkle them on at the end so they stay crunchy. For more information about heart-healthy almonds, including recipes, visit www.PortfolioKat ingPlan.com or www.Almonds AreIn.com.
