What are you snacking on? You should definitely be eating pistachios. Pistachios are one of the most potent and healthiest nuts to eat. There is so much nutrition condensed inside. They are an excellent way to supercharge your health without overeating food. You only need a couple of tablespoons or a handful a day to reap the benefits.

Pistachios are a staple in the Mediterranean diet. They are infamous for decreasing heart disease, lowering cholesterol, lowering blood pressure, cancer, and diabetes because of the fusion of PUFA’s, potassium, selenium, beta carotene, and magnesium. Pistachios are health transformers. Combining all these nutrients together makes them highly effective at combating inflammation and disease.

Nutritional Benefits of Pistachios

Pistachios super nutrition. 1-ounce is 28-grams-2-tablespoons.

• Calories: 159
• Carbs: 8 grams
• Fiber: 3 grams
• Protein: 6 grams
• Fat: 13 grams
• Saturated Fat: 1.7grams
• Polyunsaturated- 4 grams
• Monounsaturated 6.6 grams
• Potassium: 289 mg
• Selenium: 2 mg
• Phosphorus: 139 mg
• Vitamin B6: .5mg
• Thiamine: .3mg
• Beta Carotene: 87 ug
• Copper: .37 mg

1. High in Antioxidants

Antioxidants are essential to prevent disease and enhance your health. Pistachios contain the highest amounts of antioxidants than any other nut. For example, pistachios are very high in lutein and zeaxanthin. These antioxidants reduce inflammation and oxidative stress and specifically protect the eyes. Furthermore, pistachios are very high in polyphenols. Polyphenols are highly effective at preventing cancer and heart disease.

2. Pistachios Have B6

Your body cannot produce B6, so it needs to get it from food sources. B6 is a water-soluble vitamin, so it gets absorbed quickly. B6 is superb for improving blood flow in the body and brain. It also acts as a neurotransmitter. Think of a neurotransmitter as making your brain function better and more effectively. And B6 also helps prevent neurodegenerative diseases.

3. Excellent to Lower Cholesterol

Although pistachios have a high amount of fat, you need to look at the breakdown of fat differently. If the fat is 13 g like pistachios have, the label often does not show the differences in fat content. For example, out of about 13g of fat, 6.61g are polyunsaturated, 4.08 g are monounsaturated, and 1.68g are saturated. So, poly and mono are about 70% of the fat that is excellent for your cardiovascular system. In addition, pistachios increase your HDL, your good cholesterol, and reduce your LDL, the bad cholesterol.

Even saturated fat is good for you. You may see saturated fat and think it is terrible; it is not. Excessive amounts of saturated fat over 20g daily is bad for you. Saturated fat is essential for the body, like the 1.68g found in pistachios.

4. Perfect to Lower Blood Pressure

Pistachios contain the amino acid L-arginine. L-arginine gets converted to a substance called nitric oxide in your body. Nitric oxide is a vasodilator. This simply means it dilates and widens your veins and arteries. When the arteries and veins widen, blood pressure decreases. Furthermore, more oxygenated blood flows to your muscles, making pistachios perfect for a pre-training snack!

5. Helps Lower Blood Sugar

Pistachios are low on the glycemic index (GI). The lower the GI scale’s food, the better it is at preventing your blood sugar from spiking. In addition, they are high in fiber, act as an anti-inflammatory, and are polyphenols- which are the best at regulating blood sugar. So, pistachios can help with controlling diabetes.

6. Powerful Nutrient Combination

If you combine and eat pistachios with other nuts like almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, and chia, you can significantly boost your health and enhance your energy across the board. And what pistachios are lacking, the almonds, cashews, and chia you eat will supplement. For instance, eating chia will boost your omegas, whereas pistachios your beta carotene.

All green foods are superfoods, so pistachios are on the list.

For more articles on other healthy snacks, CLICK HERE!