A Daily Serving of Nuts May Help You Live Longer

Many of us have been told to limit nut consumption because of the high fat content, but now a study from Harvard indicates that eating nuts may actually help people live longer. The study’s results, which were published in the November 21 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, stretched from the 1980s until 2010 and analyzed data from 76,000 women and 42,000 men.

Researchers found that those people who ate 1 ounce (28 grams) of nuts daily, seven days a week, were 20 percent less likely to die over a 30-year period compared with those who did not eat nuts. They were also 29 percent less likely to die of heart disease, 11 percent less likely to die from cancer, and 24 percent less likely to die from respiratory disease. Eating nuts was also connected to a reduced risk of death: people who ate nuts daily were 20 percent less likely to die than those who never ate nuts.

Nuts are nutritional powerhouses, rich in minerals, vitamins, protein, unsaturated fatty acids, and antioxidants. Past studies have shown that nuts improve blood vessel function, blood sugar control, and may help with losing weight – all factors that contribute to better cardiovascular health. They can reduce the risk of colon cancer, Type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. That being said, not all nuts are created equally. It’s a good idea to avoid fried, salted, or sweetened nuts and stick with the plain, unsalted variety.

Almonds: These are an excellent source of antioxidant Vitamin E. 

Walnuts: These contain healthy omega-3 fatty acids that may protect against irregular heart rhythms.

Pecans: They are higher in fat than other nuts, but contain important B-complex vitamins.

Macadamia nuts: They have lots of Vitamin E and selenium.

Pine nuts: They contain lutein, monosaturated fats, and vitamins A, C, and D.

Hazelnuts (filberts): These are rich in magnesium, which keeps the heart from overexerting itself, unsaturated fats, and vitamin E. 

Peanuts: While they’re not officially nuts, their nutritional properties make them part of the nut family. These are rich in potassium, protein, and vitamin B. 

Brazil nuts: While these contain mostly unsaturated fat, they do have the highest amount of saturated fat among the other nuts. They’re also provide selenium, magnesium, and copper.

Pistachios: These contain vitamin E, oleic avid, and many healthy minerals and antioxidants.

The study was paid for by the National Institutes of Health and the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research & Education Foundation, but the Council had no say in how the study was done or how its results were eventually reported.

The study relied on self-reported information from the participants, and does not prove that nuts caused the participants to live longer. While the researchers did account for several factors that may impact a person's longevity, such as weight and vegetable consumption, there may be other confounding variables.

The good news is now you don’t need to avoid the holiday nut plate – just choose wisely.

Article thanks to TreeHugger

Have a nutty and productive day! :) 

MJ 

Give the gift of good health for Christmas: http://mjshealthyway.com 

Nutrients for longevity

Dr Joseph Mercola and various other professionals have actually identified some ingredients that’ll help you live a healthier, longer life. We highlight six of the best: 
 

• Vitamin D In one study of more than 2 000 ladies, those with higher vitamin D levels were discovered to have fewer aging-related changes in their DNA, in addition to decreased inflammatory feedbacks. Women with higher levels of vitamin D are more likely to have longer telomeres, which means they could mature more gradually. 

• Co-Enzyme Q10 Used by every cell in your body, Co-Enzyme Q10 is important for your body’s daily function. It’s called “ubiquinone” since it’s “common” in the human body. If you are under 25 years of age, your body is capable of changing CoQ10. However, if you are older, your body ends up being more challenged to convert the oxidised CoQ10 to ubiquinol. 

• Krill oil According to a professional on omega-3 fats, Dr William Harris, these fats appear to play a role in activating telomerase, to reverse telomere reducing. Krill oil also has a variety of advantages not discovered in various other omega-3 supplements, as it contains normally happening astaxanthin, which makes it almost 200 times more resistant to oxidative damages compared to fish oil. 

• -Magnesium According to study, magnesium plays a crucial role in DNA duplication and repair work, and RNA synthesis. Dietary magnesium has been shown to positively correlate with enhanced telomere length in females. Inadequate amounts of magnesium also lower your body’s ability to fix damaged DNA. 

• -Polyphenols These are a variety of powerful antioxidant substances in plant foods. Grapes consist of resveratrol, which deeply passes through the center of your cell’s nucleus, providing your DNA time to repair complimentary radical damages. Cacao is another potent antioxidant and has actually been discovered to benefit your sugar metabolism, blood pressure and cardio wellness. The polyphenols in green tea are focused, meanings you are consuming a relatively powerful option in each cup. 

• Folate or vitamin B9 According to a research in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry and biology, folate plays an important function in the maintenance of DNA stability and DNA methylation, both of which impact the length of your telomeres. It serves for preventing depression, seizure conditions and brain atrophy. Folate deficiency can lead to raised homocysteine levels, which can be a major factor to heart problem and Alzheimer’s disease. 

Shaklee can help with these natural supplements: http://mjshealthyway.com

Have a healthy and productive weekend!

MJ

Who’s Living Longer in the World and Why?

I recently read a report on longevity in the Untied Stated by the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine and couldn’t believe what I was reading.

The report said that the United States ranks around 40^th in the developed world for longevity (that means people in places such as Cuba, South Korea, and Hong Kong can expect to live longer than us).

Something even more surprising is that the gap between the U.S. and other developed countries is getting LARGER, according to the report. The reason the U.S. is falling behind is because younger people (people under 50) are dying at a faster rate than their peers in other developed countries–this is despite the fact that the U.S. spends more on health care than any other country (by a long shot).

There is a video that summarizes the findings that you can watch here: U.S. Health in International Perspective.  So, what is going on?

When compared with the average of peer countries, Americans fare worse in at least nine health areas:

• Infant mortality and low birth weight
• Injuries and homicides
• Adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases
• Infections
• HIV and AIDS
• Drug-related deaths
• Obesity and diabetes
• Heart disease
• Chronic lung diseases

Many of these conditions have a particularly profound effect on young people, reducing the odds that they will live to age 50.

While there are many things on this list that we can think of changing, the one area that jumps off the page at me is obesity and diabetes. Diabetes alone is associated with around 230, 000 deaths every year and costs around $174 billion dollars. Not to be outdone, obesity is estimated to cost around $147 billion.

The key to understanding why obesity and diabetes are such a problem is to understand that most people don’t actually die from either condition but from the diseases associated with these conditions, such as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and certain cancers—and the numbers here are even more astounding.

But the real point I want you to take away from reading this is that both obesity and type 2 diabetes are almost completely avoidable if you eat right, are at a healthy weight, and exercise regularly. You have it in your hands to make changes that will impact your future health.

I don’t like being last in anything—how about you? We have access to all we need to lead healthier lives and move up that longevity list! So make a pledge with me TODAY to put you and your health on the right path. Put on your walking shoes—and take an apple along for your snack. See you out there.

Thank you Shaklee Health Wise Blog