A Nutty Idea for Your Health?

By ROBERT J. DAVIS
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

It's an image makeover that rivals the biggest successes of TV's "Queer Eye": Nuts, once regarded as a villain to be avoided, are now being touted as health food.

Full-page ads extol the nutritional virtues of almonds, and peanut jars display a heart with a banner proclaiming "a handful a day may help reduce the risk of heart disease." In fact, all types of nuts can be part of a healthful diet, but none are medicine, and eating too many can do more harm than good.

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Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration began allowing the qualified claim that "evidence suggests but does not prove" that nuts may reduce the risk of heart disease. Much of this evidence comes from large population studies that asked people about their eating habits, among other things. While such research is useful in identifying possible associations between diet and disease, it can't prove cause and effect. But other, more definitive types of studies -- in which subjects are randomly assigned to eat nuts or not -- have found nuts may help lower elevated cholesterol levels.

Though nuts are high in fat, much of it is unsaturated -- the type thought to be beneficial. The FDA doesn't permit health claims for certain nuts, including macadamias and cashews, because they contain higher levels of artery-clogging saturated fat. But the difference can be very slight. For example, cashews have three grams of saturated fat per ounce versus two for peanuts. Overall, nuts have 13 to 22 grams of total fat per ounce, and 160 to 200 calories.

Walnut producers point out that their nut has the highest levels of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. While that's true, the form found in walnuts, known as alpha-linolenic acid, is thought to be less potent than the type in fish, and its benefits aren't as well documented.

Other nuts are promoted as offering their own advantages: Almonds have the highest levels of vitamin E and calcium. Peanuts (which technically aren't nuts but legumes) contain resveratrol, a compound also found in grapes that may protect against heart disease.

The truth is that no nut has been proven superior to others, so eat a variety of types you like. But don't overdo it. Because nuts are high in calories, limit your intake to an ounce or two a day -- roughly a handful. That's enough to provide any possible health benefits without causing weight gain. In fact, it may promote weight loss by making you feel full longer.

Avoid nuts that are heavily salted, which can cause you to overindulge. Use nuts to replace a less healthy snack, such as a candy bar. Or sprinkle them into salads, cereal, muffins and stir-fry dishes. Nut butters are fine as long as they don't contain hydrogenated (trans) fats. But steer clear of honey-roasted and candied nuts, with their extra sugar, fat and calories. Don't assume that nuts can make you healthier if your diet is otherwise lousy. No food by itself can do that.

© 2003 Wayne Hollopeter, M.D. All Rights Reserved
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