The statin family of drugs helps to reduce blood cholesterol levels. The importance of eating nuts remained strikingly strong even when adjustments in the data were made for other variables such as age, smoking, eating fresh fruits and vegetables, exercise, and intake of vitamin supplements. This data in the Nurses Study is supported by the Physicians Health Study that was reported last week in Dallas, Texas at the American Heart Association Conference. In the Physicians Health Study, a prospective 12 year study involving over 22,000 male physicians, data showed that as nut consumption increased the risk of total cardiac death and sudden death decreased. The Harvard Nurses Study underscores the fact that some higher fat foods are good for you and should become a part of the daily diet.
Many people are overly focused on counting fat grams.
As a result, they are missing out on the healthy benefits of good monounsaturated fats, like those found in peanut products and olive oil. In a recent study at Pennsylvania State University subjects who made small changes in their diet reduced their cholesterol levels by more than 10-14 percent within a month. Subjects who used olive oil as a prominent source of fat in their diet had similar results. A recent study at Purdue University showed that higher fat foods like peanuts and peanut butter were more satisfying than a high carbohydrate snack, like rice cakes. The peanut-eaters felt full sooner, self adjusted their caloric intakes, and did not add extra calories to their daily diets.