Are you eating pistachios on a regular basis? If not, then you might want to consider doing so. The health benefits and nutritional value of pistachios is astounding.
So to live a healthier lifestyle, why not start with some tasty pistachios?
Not convinced that just because we say they are healthy and full of nutritional value, you should start making them a part of your regular diet?
Perhaps these facts about the health benefits and nutrients of pistachios will change your mind.
Health Benefits of Pistachios
- Coupled with walnuts, cashews, and almonds, pistachios have just the right amount of protein, fats, and minerals to give you the energy you need throughout the day.
- They are a rich source of energy and they are rich in mono-unsaturated fatty acids. Consuming pistachios regularly in the diet helps to lower total cholesterols, but most importantly it lowers the LDL (bad) cholesterol while also increasing HDL (good) cholesterol levels. A healthy blood lipid profile such as pistachios provide will help coronary artery disease and strokes.
- They are a great source of antioxidants, which means they can help people fight off infection and may help protect against disease like cancer.
- They are a great source of vitamin E which is essential to those lipid profiles mentioned above.
- They are a great source of minerals like copper, manganese, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, and selenium. These are required to help with our metabolism and neuro transmission.
- Pistachio oil is one of the healthiest cooking oils. With a nutty aroma, it has excellent emollient properties. It helps keep skin well protected from dryness.
Can you believe all of those health benefits?
Pistachios helps protect you from dry skin as well as heart disease and cancer. So what about the nutritional value of a pistachio?
Nutritional Value of Pistachios
- One cup of raw pistachios provides 685 calories—67 percent fat, 20 percent carbohydrates and 13 percent protein. About 33 percent of the fat is saturated, whereas the remainder includes unsaturated varieties such as omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids.
- Pistachios are a good source of fiber and vitamin B, as well as the minerals and vitamin E mentioned above.
- Just eating one handful of pistachios a day provides you with enough antioxidants, mineral, protein, and vitamins for the entire day. Now that’s one super nut.
There are health concerns with pistachios, though. Since it is a nut, those with nut allergies do have to be cautious.
If you have a known cashew nut allergy then you’ll need to take precautions with pistachios as they do fall into the same nut family.
But if you’re not allergic to nuts, then this is a great food to eat for your overall health. Toss a handful of pistachios on your salad, vegetable or fruit salad. They have a sweet nutty taste so even using them in pastries is a plus.
Wherever you can get these tasty nuts into your diet you won’t be disappointed. Because not only do they taste great—they are great for you, too.
