nuts?

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nuts?

Postby dteresa » Mon Apr 07, 2014 3:08 am

http://www.cbass.com/GONUTS.HTM

Jeff, here is something I found that you wrote on another site. Have you changed your mind? I do not eat any meat or dairy at all and do eat a tablespoon of flax seed per day but no nuts. The only nuts I really enjoy are salted pistachios but I do not still buy them, mainly because I can't stop at one ounce. I also have a stent and some blocked arteries and am t2 diabetic so I do not any longer include nuts. However, the last thing I want to do is end up in the ER again and it looks from this article that an ounce or so of nuts per day might help prevent that. (although I would rather not add an additional two hundred calories per day to my diet.) I know dr. Esselstyn says no nuts for his heart patients.

I did notice the other article on the same site in which you explain that adding any kind of fat to the diet of an overweight person is not a good idea. The body builder on whose website these articles appear says his cholesterol and triglycerides were lowered by adding fat. I do know however, that he takes statins. Pritikin once wrote of an experiment in which polyunsaturated fat did lower cholesterol in experimental monkeys but their arteries became blocked despite the lower cholesterol in their blood.

didi
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Re: nuts?

Postby JeffN » Mon Apr 07, 2014 6:33 am

dteresa wrote:Have you changed your mind?


About what?

Be specific.

My guidelines & recommendations in regard to nuts have not changed over the years as the science has not changed.

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=40295

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=27132&p=272642#p272642

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=15059

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Re: nuts?

Postby dteresa » Mon Apr 07, 2014 12:25 pm

It looks like you were saying nuts could be a healthful addition to the diet and you cited studies that showed lower mortality rates in those consuming nuts. But recently in a video you showed that the nuts were replacing muffins in one study. So I am under the impression from that that nuts are only healthful if they are replacing muffins or some other snack type food but will not necessarily have a positive effect on diabetes or heart disease or mortality if just added to a wfpb no fat diet, which is what I am eating now. I am not at all fond of nuts, except for salted roasted pistachios which I cannot eat in moderation so I stay away from them. But if nuts will improve my health on this diet after twenty years of diabetes and two years from an MI, then I will add them to my diet.

didi
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Re: nuts?

Postby JeffN » Mon Apr 07, 2014 1:29 pm

dteresa wrote: It looks like you were saying nuts could be a healthful addition to the diet and you cited studies that showed lower mortality rates in those consuming nuts.


Yes, and as described in the links above and here...

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=40295

... this is an association and not a cause and effect and is also marker of a more healthy lifestyle and dietary pattern.

Those who eat more nuts tend to be better educated, have higher incomes, are more active, drink less, smoke less, eat more fruits and vegetables and weigh less.

As the authors themselves stated...

"it is not possible to conclude that the observed inverse association between nut consumption and mortality reflects cause and effect"

And, as I showed in the above links, the healthy lifestyle pattern, with or without nuts, has a much more powerful impact, then any one single food.

In some of the studies, those with the mortality benefit also include olive oil and non-fat dairy, yet should you include those too? or are they also just other markers of the overall healthy lifestyle and dietary pattern?

dteresa wrote:But recently in a video you showed that the nuts were replacing muffins in one study.


I evaluated this study because it was being used as "proof" that there was a benefit in replacing carbohydrates (ncluding healthy unrefined minimally processed intact whole grains and starchy vegetables), with nuts. However, that is not what this study showed. First, the nuts were used as a replacement for a fairly unhealthy muffin. Second, the impact of two oz of nuts, though reported as significant, only dropped A1c from 7.2 to 6.9 and glucose from like 131 to 129.

dteresa wrote:So I am under the impression from that that nuts are only healthful if they are replacing muffins or some other snack type food but will not necessarily have a positive effect on diabetes or heart disease or mortality if just added to a wfpb no fat diet, which is what I am eating now.


What matters most is overall dietary patterns. As I showed here, does chicken cause cancer or does chicken prevent it?

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=28191&p=310350#p310350

Understanding this issue of perspective and context, may be the single most important issue to your health and not whether you eat walnuts or not. The other is effect size...

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=28413#p284034

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=28413&start=15#p377392

dteresa wrote: I am not at all fond of nuts, except for salted roasted pistachios which I cannot eat in moderation so I stay away from them.


You are not alone. Many people find themselves in the same spot and for that reason, need to be very careful if & when including them.

dteresa wrote:But if nuts will improve my health on this diet after twenty years of diabetes and two years from an MI, then I will add them to my diet.


The question is, will adding more of a food considered to be healthy, make my already extremely healthy diet, healthier?

That is the whole point of this discussion, which I hope you take the time to read.

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=28413

However, let me also give you another perspective, lets say, you believe it to be true, that there is something unique in nuts/seeds that without it, you may not do as well. So, the question is, what is that? Most all the benefits we know of are due to certain aspects of nuts that are readily available on a better per calorie basis in many of the other foods recommended. Nuts/seeds are not very high on the overall nutrient density scale or on the nutrient density scale of any single nutrient.

So, lets look at it this way, if you were living a healthy lifestyle in all areas and consuming an excellent diet and wanted to added in a few nuts or seeds to get the biggest nutritional bang for the lowest calorie buck, which would it be.

If you have seen my full nuts talk, I walk you through this process and the 3 that come up scoring the highest are walnuts, flax seed and chia seed. So, let's compare them on several key issues so you can choose the best one. This comparison is based on equaling them all out to 1.6 grams of Omega 3's, which is the upper level of the recommended AI.

(excuse the formatting)

Nutrient - - - Flax Seed - - Chia Seed - - Walnuts
Weight - - - - 7 grams - - - 9 grams - - - - 18 grams
Calories - - - 37 calories - -44 calories- - -118 calories
Fat - - - - - - -3 grams - - - -2.8 grams - - 11.7 grams
Sat Fat - - - - .3 grams - - - .3 grams - - -- 1.1 grams
Omega 6 - - - .4 grams - - - .5 grams - - - 6.9 grams
Omega 3 - - - 1.6 grams - - - 1.6 grams - -1.6 grams
6/3 ratio - - - .25 - - - - - - - .32 - - - - - - 4.15
Fiber - - - - - - 1.9 grams - --3.1 grams - - 1.2 grams
*ND - - - - - - - -- 3.8 - - -- - - 3.4 - - - - - - 2.4 - - -

*ND - Nutrient Density based on NutritionData.com scale of 1-5

While this may definitely fall under the category of "minutia, but since you did ask, from my perspective & based on the above analysis, the flax and the chia clearly win.

And, since you also mentioned that it is hard for you to limit some foods, let's also add in a "binge factor."

Of the three, which ones do you think you are more likely to overeat/binge on?

I know of many who can not eat just a few walnuts, but have known few who overeat on ground flax of chia seeds :)

Unless that is, they make them into chia pudding or flax muffins :)

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Re: nuts?

Postby dteresa » Wed Apr 09, 2014 5:52 am

I understand. Thanks for the explanation. I do eat a tablespoon or two of flax or chia as per dr.Esselstyn but am not religious about it. And you are right I am never tempted to overeat on flax or chia.

didi
PS, If as you say, people who eat nuts are better educated, have a higher income, drink less, smoke less, are active, eat more fruits and vegetables and weigh less, I figure I meet all of the criteria but one and could harmlessly add nuts to my diet if I can only figure out a way to have a higher income.
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