January 5, 2010

Going Nuts Over Pistachios

Yesterday, almost everybody returns to the office with a heavy heart after that long year-end break they had. As for me, I didn’t feel anything coz I didn’t take any leave *holiday? What holiday?

Ok, fine! Cuti dah habis sebenarnye :p

One of the Iranian expatriates brought pistachios back to the office. A sack full of delicious pistachios! I’m in heaven. This green-purple nut has always been my favourite! I ate and ate until my fingers red from kopek-ing the pistachios. I don’t blame Dr. Amir if he hides the pistachios from me.

In the midst of eating I wonder what’s in this pistachios. The benefits, the bad effects? I did some research and this is what I found:

Pistachios – The Food For Your Heart

There is growing evidence that shows a diet that includes tree nuts, such as pistachios, is associated with a reduced risk of heart disease.
- Lowers total cholesterol, LDL (bad fat) and increase HDL (good fat).
- Pistachios are rich in the nutrients like arginine that are thought to reduce hardening of the arteries. Arginine helps make nitric oxide in the blood, and nitric oxide can prevent build-up along your arterial walls. Meaning it helps to keep your arteries from clogging, thus helps prevent heart disease.
-pistachios can actually lower your absorption of dietary cholesterol from other foods. That means pistachios are looking out for you and helping to keep your cholesterol at bay.
- Pistachios contain high levels of the antioxidants lutein, beta-carotene, and gamma-tocopherol, which can help reduce your cholesterol

Pistachios – The Food For Weight Watchers

Mau kuruskan badan? Sila baca..

- people who eat nuts tend to have lower amounts of body fat. This fact is proven by a study in UCLA; patients who substituted pistachios for foods such as candy bars, dairy products, microwave popcorn, and potato chips, for a total of 20% of their total calories, did not gain weight or increase their calorie intake
- Pistachios make us feel full and satisfied. Pistachios have a significant amount of protein, healthy fat, and dietary fiber, all three of which can increase your feeling of fullness and the length of time it takes to get hungry again. When you’re feeling full, you tend to eat less throughout the day, which can lead to weight loss.
- pistachios are amongst the highest fiber nuts, providing 12% of your daily requirement per serving and giving you a delicious and easy way to help meet your daily goal. Fiber has been shown to help control blood sugar, lower cholesterol, and possibly help with weight management and reduce the risk of some types of cancer

Pistachios – A Smart Snack

Hungry? Choose pistachios. Among nuts, pistachios are one of the most nutritious varieties. A one-ounce serving of pistachios, with 49 kernels and 160 calories, gives you more than 30 different vitamins, minerals, and other beneficial nutrients.
-Good for bones: Pistachios are a great source of copper, manganese, and phosphorus, which help build strong, healthy bones
-Good for heart: Contains significant amounts of potassium and magnesium, which help regulate heart rate and blood pressure.
-Source of vitamin B6 and the other B vitamins, pistachios can help you fight infections, build muscles, and give you a boost of energy.
-Eye saver:  contains Lutein and zeaxanthin which are great for our eyes. Pistachios are the only nuts to contain a significant amount of these powerful antioxidants, which help reduce your risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of blindness in adults over 65.


 Yummy pistachios
Photo credit : Source

That’s a lot of nutritions huh? If it’s up to me, I’d eat pistachios every single day instead of those unhealthy chocolates, potato chips and ice cream I always crave. Malangnya pistachio adalah mahal di Malaysia ini. Dah lah mahal, kadang-kadang beli tak sedap pulak/masuk angin/over masin. 

Ape-ape pon, I’ll try my best to include this healthy little thing in my diet. And Mr. Chenta’s diet. God knows he needs it, looking at the size of his tummy!

Information credit to  PistachioHealth

2 comments on "Going Nuts Over Pistachios"
  1. owh saya pun sangat suka kacang pistachio also known as kacang pandai ni.. its soo yummy

    ReplyDelete
  2. yummeh! beli laaa...aku nak pow...hehe

    ReplyDelete

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