Aunt Liu is 52 years old this year, and since she got older, she has paid special attention to health preservation, and consults all kinds of health-related knowledge on the Internet every day. I saw an article earlier that eating nuts is good for the body, so I bought a lot of nuts to eat at home, and in addition to eating a bag of daily nuts every day, I will also eat some walnuts and peanuts, and almost eat nuts as a meal.
Two weeks ago, she suddenly began to have stomach pain, and she thought it was just a bad stomach and didn't care too much, but after that, Aunt Liu's stomach pain became more and more intense, and she couldn't even stand up, so the family rushed Aunt Liu to the hospital.
After examination, it was found that Aunt Liu was acute pancreatitis, and the triglyceride index in her body was seriously exceeded, and the triglyceride level of normal people was 1.6mmol/L, but Aunt Liu's triglyceride was already 29.7mmol/L, which was more than ten times higher than the normal level, which also induced acute pancreatitis.
Although the doctors have tried their best to save the life, Aunt Liu is still dead in the end, which is unacceptable to the family. After learning about the past medical history, the doctor believes that the culprit that caused Aunt Liu's excessive triglycerides is likely to be eating too many nuts!
1. If you eat nuts regularly, will you really get high blood lipids?
Hyperlipidemia, clinically known as "dyslipidemia", generally refers to an increase in triglycerides, total cholesterol levels or LDL, and a decrease in HDL cholesterol in plasma.
Many people blame high blood lipids on diet, in this regard, Jiang Weimin, director of the Department of Cardiology and chief physician of Jiangsu Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said that high blood lipids have a certain relationship with diet, but it is not completely eaten, lipid source, lipoprotein synthesis, abnormal key enzymes in the metabolic process or degradation process receptor pathway disorders and other factors will affect the level of blood lipids.
Among the indicators of dyslipidemia, triglycerides are most affected by dietary factors, and when excessive fat intake occurs, triglyceride levels also increase. However, cholesterol is different, about 70% of cholesterol is synthesized by the body itself. If there is a problem with the synthesis mechanism itself, then the endogenous cholesterol will continue to be supplied, and the blood lipids will naturally not go down.
In addition, factors such as hypothyroidism, liver and kidney diseases, myeloma, excessive alcohol abuse and polycystic ovarian cysts will also affect lipid synthesis and metabolism in the body, and it is easy to cause secondary dyslipidemia.
In other words, there are many causes of hyperlipidemia, and diet is only one of the factors, so it is not very reasonable to attribute the cause of hyperlipidemia to eating nuts.
Although nuts are rich in oil, most of them are unsaturated fats, and under the premise of controlling total fat intake, unsaturated fats have certain benefits in improving dyslipidemia and reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
However, although unsaturated fat is good, it is still fat, and long-term intake of a large amount of fat will also lead to excess energy in the body, which will induce obesity and cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, the attitude of hyperlipidemia patients towards nuts is that they can be eaten but in moderation.
2. The study found that three kinds of nuts had the best effect on regulating blood lipids
The fat content in nuts is about 35~80%, most of which are healthy saturated fats, the protein content is about 12~36%, which is one of the main sources of plant-based protein, and the carbohydrate content is about 15%, and there are rich dietary fiber, iron, zinc, magnesium, potassium and other elements, which can help the body supplement trace elements.
Eating nuts regularly can help protect the cardiovascular system, reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, all-cause mortality, cancer, obesity, and more.
However, there are many types of nuts, and the nutritional value of different nuts is different, so how to choose the type of nuts to help adjust blood lipids?
In December 2023, a study published in the American food and nutrition professional journal "Food Science and Nutrition Review" pointed out that different nuts have different effects on lowering blood lipids.
Researchers from the University of Castilla La Mancha in Spain conducted an in-depth analysis of data from 76 randomized controlled analysis experiments and found that:
- Pistachios, almonds, and walnuts have the best effect on reducing total cholesterol;
- Cashews, walnuts, and almonds have the best effect on reducing LDL cholesterol;
- Hazelnuts and walnuts have the best effect on reducing triglycerides;
- Peanuts have the best effect on raising HDL cholesterol.
After reading the study, you can choose the nuts that are suitable for you according to your actual situation.
3. It is best to eat less of the three kinds of nuts, or they may harm the liver and cause cancer
According to the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents 2016 Edition", it is recommended to consume 25~35g of soybean nuts per day, which is converted to about 7~8 peanuts, cashews and other smaller nuts, walnuts and macadamia nuts, which are slightly larger, can be consumed 2~3 per day. However, there are 3 types of nuts that are best avoided and eaten.
1. Heavy nuts
There are many nut flavors on the market, such as caramel, salt and pepper, milk, etc., which will taste much better but are not healthy. Because it adds a lot of sugar, oil, and salt inside, and even some merchants add a lot of condiments in order to cover up the deterioration of nuts, eating this nut often can easily lead to obesity, and there will be greater health risks.
2. Moldy and bitter nuts
Moldy and bitter nuts are likely to have aflatoxin, aflatoxin carcinogenic and toxic are very strong, into the body is easy to damage the liver, mild diarrhea, vomiting, hepatitis, serious can also lead to liver cancer, and even death.
3. Nuts with hala flavor
Nuts are rich in oils and unsaturated fatty acids, and improper storage can easily make them oxidative and rancid. Eating these nuts is likely to cause diarrhea and even liver damage. Once the nuts are found to have a hala smell, they should be discarded in time.
Nuts are a very nutritious food, but you can't blindly consume a large amount, and the premise of health benefits is to consume them in moderation. You must not be like Aunt Liu at the beginning of the article, just eat nuts as a meal, this is an extremely irresponsible manifestation of health!
Resources:
[1] "The Voice of Xinglin, Live Hall丨High blood lipids, not necessarily "eaten"!How to lower blood lipids, see here →", Jiangsu Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Subscription No. 2023-05-08
[2] "What happens when you eat a handful of nuts a day? Popular Science China 2023-07-05
[3] "A Pack of Nuts Eat High Blood Lipids?2 Kinds of "Hurtful" Nuts Advise You Not to Eat!". Popular Science China 2022-10-10
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