When comparing what type of nuts you might want to snack on, take a look at this chart.
The Green is Monounsaturated Fat
The Red is Polyunsaturated Fat
The Blue is Saturated Fat
Well I think we all know that avoiding as much saturated fat as we can is a good thing as it is found to raise blood cholesterol levels and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Try to avoid these and have only moderation.
What you want most of are the Red and Green fats:
- Monounsaturated fats are particularly helpful in lower LDL cholesterol and helping to prevent cardiovascular disease.
- Polyunsaturated fats are needed for growth, cell structure and for maintaining a healthy immune system.
Almonds are not only low in saturated fat but have a higher protein content so add about 10 almonds into your mid morning or afternoon snack to stave off the hunger demons.
Sunflower seeds are another great nutritional snack, very low in saturated fats.
For a good mid-morning snack, put 1/2 cup of some WA made yoghurt (only WA made please!) and mix in 1/2 a chopped apple, about 5-10 almonds, some walnuts or pecans and as many sunflower seeds as you like to make a crunchy, hunger busting snack!
Enjoy!
p.s. look out for our new year 12-week FIT YOU educational programs starting in January 2014 …