Pistachios besides stand out—quite literally—with their green hue. At first you may think NBD, but their coloring comes from two key compounds—lutein and zeaxanthin—which are great for eye health, acting like sunglasses to help protect your eyes today and besides helping to keep age-related macular degeneracy at true laurel in the future. While we ‘re comparing, research shows pistachios besides win for being the nut with the most potassium ( a nutrient that most Americans do n’t get enough of ), deoxyadenosine monophosphate well as a character of vitamin E ( which, along with the nuts ‘ other antioxidants, may help offer some protection against cancer ).
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Nutrition Facts: What’s in a serving of pistachios?
In a 1-ounce serve ( about 30 grams ), which is about 1/2 cup with shells, or 49 pistachios, there are :
- Calories: 160
- Protein: 6 g
- Fat: 14 g
- Saturated fat: 1.5 g
- Unsaturated fat: 11 g
- Carbohydrate: 8 g
- Sugars: 2 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Sodium: 0 mg
You besides get healthy doses of copper, manganese, vitamin B6, vitamin b1, phosphorus and magnesium in a serve of pistachios.
The Health Benefits of Pistachios
There is ample research on pistachios—eating them regularly is good for your heart and may help lower your risk of cardiovascular disease in the future. Making them a regular part of your diet could besides help prevent future weight reach. here, we pulled together a list of in truth luminary benefits.
pistachios in shells on a white background
credit : Getty Images
Improve Your Cholesterol
There ‘s quite a handful of research around the cholesterol-lowering power of adding pistachios to your diet : studies show that pistachios can help improve total cholesterol, “ bad ” LDL cholesterol and besides your ratios of full to “ dependable ” HDL cholesterol, equally well as LDL to HDL ratios. But besides, did you know that there are types of LDL that are particularly damage ? There are—and there ‘s flush research that suggests eating pistachios can help with those types, excessively. hera ‘s the catch, though : most of the studies called for adding pistachios to a lower-fat diet, or a moderate-fat diet. In other words, you ca n’t just add pistachios to your usual western diet and expect to see great benefits.
Keeps Blood Vessels Supple
There are some studies that suggest pistachios could help lower your blood atmospheric pressure, but there is n’t adequate research to say eating them will truly improve your lineage atmospheric pressure. That said, keeping your blood vessels supple and the line of your blood vessels healthy can help you maintain a healthy blood pressure—and besides is significant for your overall heart health. And there is research that shows eating pistachios ( as depart of an otherwise fairly healthy diet and a life style that includes exercise ) helps maintain healthy blood vessels. Try these research-backed tips to help lower your rake pressure.
Help with Type 2 Diabetes
There ‘s a double diabetes benefit to eating pistachios. Eating pistachios can help with glucose and insulin restraint in people with prediabetes, per one study published in Diabetes Care. But besides, other larger studies suggest that regularly eating pistachios ( and other nuts ) can help lower your gamble of type 2 diabetes. Experts think this is thanks to their fiber, goodly fat and antioxidants.
Read more: Heart Healthy Foods We Love And This Is Why!
Good for Your Gut
A serve of pistachios delivers 3 grams of fiber, which is about 11 % of your casual fiber goal. That alone is thoroughly for your gastrointestinal health ! But besides, newer research shows that pistachios promote a healthy makeup of the good bugs in your catgut ( aka your microbiome ) excessively. And that ‘s because pistachios contain prebiotics, which is the “ food ” that feeds the probiotics in your gut.
Help the Planet
not merely are they effective for your health, but pistachios are commodity for the satellite. They are a reference of plant-based protein —and when you eat pistachios in home of an animal protein source ( remember : gripe, chicken, etc. ), you are contributing to a more sustainable food system global .