Diamond Nuts | Live Well | Fats Explained

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Nuts: Sweet and Savory Recipes from Diamond of California

Selected by Food & Wine magazine as the Best Cookbook of the Year

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Everybody needs some fat to stay healthy. Fat provides flavor, supplies calories and gives you energy. But it pays to know the good from the bad. Unsaturated fat, the good fat that’s found in nuts, other plant foods and fish, may lower your cholesterol and risk of heart disease. Saturated fat, the bad stuff found mostly in animal and full-fat dairy products, increases LDL cholesterol and boosts the danger of heart attack and stroke.

Research Findings on the Fat in Nuts

Nutritionists are finding more and more evidence that good and bad fats act on the body in strikingly different ways.

In a study of older adults published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (July 2001), walnuts had the dual effect of lowering low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol — the “bad” sort of cholesterol that damages arteries — and lowering total cholesterol.
In a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (April 4, 2000), eating a handful of walnuts a day was shown to reduce cardiovascular risk in people with high cholesterol. Participants followed the healthy Mediterranean diet, substituting walnuts for some monounsaturated fat. Heart disease risk was reduced 11 percent and LDL was cut by 6 percent — beyond the expected effect of the Mediterranean diet alone. (The Mediterranean diet emphasizes fresh fruits and vegetables, olive oil, fish, wine, bread, nuts and legumes.)
The Nurses Health Study (British Medical Journal, 1998) investigated the relationship between nut consumption and the incidence of coronary heart disease in more than 86,000 women. Participants who ate at least 5 ounces a week lowered their risk of heart disease by 35 percent.
A number of studies at Loma Linda University, in Loma Linda, California, followed the dietary habits and health of nearly 35,000 people for up to 12 years. In the first study, those who consumed nuts at least 5 times a week decreased their incidence of myocardial infarction (heart attack) by 51 percent and risk of fatal coronary heart disease by 48 percent, compared to those who ate nuts less than once a week. Another study discovered that healthy young men could lower their cholesterol by 12 percent by substituting walnuts for some of the saturated fats in their diets.

The fat in nuts is about 85 percent unsaturated – the good fat that can cut down artery-clogging cholesterol and help protect your heart against disease.

Types of Fat

Here’s a quick rundown on good fats and bad.

Monounsaturated fats are often liquid at room temperature and come mostly from plant foods. The fat found in almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans and pistachios is predominantly monounsaturated.
Polyunsaturated fats are often liquid at room temperature and come from plant foods. The fat found in walnuts is mainly polyunsaturated and is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids.
Saturated fats are often solid at room temperature. These are found mostly in animal-derived foods such as lard, butter, meat and chicken skin.
Hydrogenated fats are solid or semi-solid at room temperature. They are found in hard and semi-soft margarine and in vegetable shortenings. Hydrogenated fats are not natural — they are made from plant oils and fats that have been heated and pressure-processed.