Nuts or supplements? A handful of nuts a day could keep the doctor away. According to a leading nutritionist including some unsalted nuts in your diet is not only very important to reaching the
daily required levels of many essential vitamins, minerals and other nutrients but may also prevent heart disease.
Changes to Australia's Recommended Dietary Intakes (RDIs) for nutrients has seen the requirement for a number of nutrients increase, which begs the question: can we meet all our nutritional needs naturally through our diet or are supplements necessary?
Dr Katrine Baghurst, an independent nutrition expert formerly of the CSIRO, has developed dietary models to determine which combination of foods best meets the new Nutrient Reference Values from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
Dr Baghurst said that the best way to meet all the essential nutrients we need each day is to include a handful of nuts (about 30g) as well as a well balanced diet that has plenty of fruits, vegetables, legumes and wholegrain cereals and seeds, and water, as well as small amounts of unsaturated oils or margarines.
"Nuts are a concentrated source of essential fats and could be described as nature's own vitamin/mineral pill containing more than 28 important nutrients and all in safe levels, just as nature intended," she said.
Arginine
In the past, research has shown that just because foods contain important nutrients for health, does not necessarily mean that more is better.
Two trials using nutrient supplements at higher levels than found naturally in food, have discovered the nutrient supplements did not confer better health at higher intake levels and in fact may cause serious illness or death.
The first trial involved a substance called Arginine, an amino acid or one of the building blocks of protein. Arginine can be converted to nitric oxide, which can relax smooth muscles such as those found in the blood vessels. It is thought to be important for slowing the progression of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and improving blood flow.
In a nutshell
Nuts contain both arginine and vitamin E, but in much lower quantities than used in these studies. A 30g serve of mixed nuts contains 1.85g of arginine (which provides almost 50 per cent of what women were consuming on average in one Australian study) and 6.2mg of Vitamin E (which provides just over 60 per cent the Adequate Intake for Vitamin E for men).
Research has shown those who eat a small handful of nuts (30g) up to five times a week have a reduced risk of heart disease by 30-50 per cent. It is possibly the unique combination of nutrients, at the levels occurring naturally in nuts, that contributes to this protective effect.
Tips for including unsalted nuts in your everyday diet:
Munch on pistachios as a pre-dinner appetiser
Sprinkle almonds or cashews through a stir fry
Roast chestnuts or pine nuts and toss them through a salad
Chop walnuts and add them to a dipping sauce
Crumble pecans or walnuts into a yoghurt dessert topping and serve with fruit
