Based on Harvard’s researches’ findings, replacing 127 calories of carbohydrates (an equivalent of a small pack of Doritos) with a handful of nuts can significantly reduce the risk of heart disease by 30%.

The misconception of what “FATS” is causes many to pull away from food that are noted to be high in fat content. Ideally, our bodies should have high levels of HDL (High Density Lipid), and low levels of LDL (Low Density Lipid). HDLs are good “fats” whereas LDLs are the bad “fats”. Foods such as biscuits and chips fall in the latter category, while nuts are assured to provide you with good HDL.

When craving for the crunchy, crispy snacks, always turn to nuts! In my case, I’m biased to loving cashew nuts. Nuts in general are packed with protein and monounsaturated fats (good fats). In the Cashew’s case, it has very high content of Magnesium, which promotes muscle and bone mass growth. Providing the same nuttiness as the nuts in a Snickers bar, Cashew nuts are packed with much lesser saturated (bad) fats. In order to fully benefit from the goodness of nuts, these nuts have to be saltless and oil-less. I’d usually have my Cashews either raw or baked.

The baking process is fairly simple:
1. preheat the oven to 180 deg C.
2. rinse the cashews and pat dry.
3. place Cashews onto a baking pan and put to bake until golden brown (~ 15mins for 500g)

In conclusion, a handful of nuts every day can lower your heart-disease risk by a third, chop your Alzheimer’s risk by two-thirds, and help you slim down. Stay hearty, stay healthy! x