February 16th
was the Almond Day and I am a bit late in publishing this post. Sometimes it is
better late than never. This post talks about the health benefits of almonds. Well
almonds owe its existence to the Middle East.
Almonds make
you smart. Now that’s a nice thing to know. They are rich in antioxidants and
help you to think smarter. Almonds are rich in vitamin E. They help your skin
look great. A handful of almonds help to maintain healthy cholesterol levels. They
are rich in monounsaturated fatty acids and are quite heart friendly.
Almonds are
rich in magnesium and potassium. Magnesium improves the flow of blood in
arteries and veins. Potassium helps to maintain the normal blood pressure and
functioning of the heart. Almonds have prebiotic properties that improve the
digestive health. It increases the number of beneficial bacteria in the gut.
Almonds contain
folic acid which reduces the levels of homocysteine, an amino acid which is believed
to have an underhand in the building of fatty plaque in arteries. It seems that
almonds reduce the risk of cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. Zinc,
selenium, copper, phosphorous, biotin and niacin are the other nutrients of
almonds.
Wild almond
tree oil which is also called as sterculic oil is extracted from the seeds of
the wild almond tree. It helps to reduce obesity and diabetes. Talking about
wild almond tree, the wild raw almonds may contain a glycoside which can be
converted into deadly poison cyanide. What we are eating are
domesticated almonds. The domesticated variety does not contain all these
dangerous stuff. You can very well eat the domesticated raw almonds to gain the
benefits of flavonoids. They are natural antioxidants and 20 different
flavonoids are present in the skin rather than the meat of the almond.
A word of
caution, if you are ever lost in the woods never ever taste wild almond.
Take care,
Swarnam
Photo of
almonds by lobster20
Photo courtesy
of www.freedigitalphotos.net
