Making nuts and seeds your go-to snack of the day will make your heart healthier.
Eating a handful every day almost halves your risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), say researchers at the University of Oslo.
A 30g (1 oz) serving every day seems to be the minimum amount needed to have a positive effect on your heart. People who eat that amount every day have a 91 percent lower risk of heart disease than someone who doesn’t eat nuts or seeds, and those eating 50g (1.7 oz) also saw levels of LDL ‘bad’ cholesterol drop.
They trawled through 42 studies that had monitored the heart health of 1.89 million participants and measured the amount of nuts and seeds they ate.
The foods are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), micronutrients such as vitamin E, dietary fibre, polyphenols, flavonoids and phytosterols.
