5 Health benefits of hazelnuts, a powerhouse of nutrition by: Zoey Sky for Natural News
Hazelnut is a popular flavor for cookies and coffee creamer, but the nuts themselves are a nutrient powerhouse. They are the perfect snack and are easy to incorporate into your regular diet.
This superfood also offers incredible health benefits, such as boosting your digestive health and maintaining healthy glucose levels.
Hazelnuts come from trees and shrubs in the Corylus genus and they are grown all over Europe, North America and Asia. Hazelnuts are also called filberts and they’re slightly smaller than an acorn. The nuts have a thick, smooth, hard brown shell, but are often sold shelled.
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Hazelnuts taste rather sweet and have a cream-colored kernel that is small and round, with a thin, dark-brown skin. Some people remove the skin before eating the nuts. Hazelnuts can be eaten raw, but they become more flavorful and sweet when roasted. Since hazelnuts have a high fat content, they should be stored in the fridge.
Hazelnuts help maintain healthy blood sugar levels
According to research, regularly eating a healthy mixture of nuts like hazelnuts can help maintain healthy blood glucose levels.
Eating a mixture of almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts every day for 12 weeks is linked to a significant reduction of blood glucose levels. Experts believe that the benefit is due to the abundance of oleic acid in hazelnuts.
Oleic acid, a major type of monounsaturated fat, has beneficial effects on your health and may have a positive role in reducing cholesterol levels and blood pressure. It is also crucial in how your body responds to insulin.
Hazelnuts help maintain healthy cholesterol levels
Incorporating hazelnuts into a balanced diet can help reduce the amount of cholesterol in your bloodstream.
The best way to maximize the health benefits of hazelnuts is to consume at least a handful every day. Eat hazelnuts on their own as a heart-healthy snack or use them to make pasta, pesto, risotto or stuffing.
The fiber and omega-3, -6, and -9 fatty acid content of hazelnuts can also help support healthy cholesterol levels and strengthen your heart and cardiovascular system.
Hazelnuts promote regular bowel movement
You need to consume enough dietary fiber daily for your body to function efficiently. And when it comes to eliminating waste, efficient bowel movements are a must.
Since hazelnuts contain dietary fiber, adding a few to your diet as a snack or as part of a meal is the best way to maintain bowel movement regularity and prevent constipation.
Hazelnuts promote weight loss
Because of hazelnut’s ability to improve the efficiency of insulin and the body’s response to it, eating the nuts can help lower the risk of obesity.
Incorporating more nuts in your diet is a great way to maintain a healthy weight without worrying about gaining unwanted pounds.
However, like with other healthy foods, you need to avoid eating too many nuts and seeds. You should also avoid hazelnuts and seeds with added sugar and chocolate. Salted nuts are fine if you consume less than an ounce because a one-ounce serving of most nuts contains less than 100 milligrams of sodium.
If you consume more than one or two handfuls of hazelnuts per day, you’re adding extra calories, which can take the place of other healthy foods and even cause weight gain.
When incorporating hazelnuts into a balanced diet, think in terms of small portions. Have a handful of hazelnuts for a quick snack or add a few to your meals throughout the day.
Hazelnuts provide essential nutrients and antioxidants
Hazelnuts are a healthy snack because they don’t contain cholesterol or sodium and are low in natural sugar. A handful of hazelnuts (10 nuts) only contains 88 calories and 2.3 grams of carbohydrates.
As a superfood, hazelnuts are chock-full of vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber and omega-3,- 6 and -9 fatty acids. Hazelnuts also contain calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and zinc.
Hazelnuts contain 2.1 grams of fiber, which accounts for four percent of your daily value (DV) in just 10 nuts. (Related: Adding nuts to your diet has brain benefits – study.)
Eating healthy meals and snacking on a handful of hazelnuts every day provides you with the nutrients you need to prevent illness and disease. Additionally, hazelnut skins are full of beneficial antioxidants that help protect your body from oxidative stress, which is often associated with aging and chronic disease.
The most abundant antioxidants in hazelnuts are phenolic compounds. According to a 2016 review by the Research Center for Food and Development in Mexico, dietary phenolic compounds may be associated with a lower risk of developing chronic degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.
