Don't overlook this significant health benefit.
Do you put cashews in your trail mix bag? If not, perhaps this piece of information will persuade you to reconsider your next batch of cashews—cashews may help to improve your heart health.
That's correct. Multiple studies have revealed that eating cashews regularly may lower your risk of heart disease and stroke. In general, including more nuts in your diet may be beneficial to your heart. According to studies, eating just two ounces of nuts per day can reduce levels of the harmful type of cholesterol (LDL) by up to 5%.
On the other hand, some studies have connected eating a few nuts to lower blood cholesterol levels. One 2019 study found that people with type 2 diabetes who ate cashews for 10% of their daily calories had a lower LDL to HDL (the good kind of cholesterol) than people who didn't eat cashews.
According to the findings of a 2017 study, eating cashews raises HDL cholesterol while lowering total and LDL cholesterol. Another 2018 study found a correlation between cashew eating and decreased blood pressure.
Nonetheless, other studies suggest that cashews' effects in lowering dangerous blood cholesterol levels are ambiguous. According to one 2019 study, while routinely eating cashews may assist in lowering blood pressure and triglyceride (a type of fat present in the blood), they did not affect lowering total cholesterol or LDL cholesterol levels.
Keep in mind that only a few studies on cashew consumption and heart health could explain the contradictory results. If you want to improve your heart health, you should eat a variety of nuts.
For example, consuming peanuts and tree nuts twice a week and walnuts once a week was linked to a 13 percent -19 percent lower risk of any cardiovascular disease and a 15 percent -23 percent lower risk of coronary heart disease, according to an extensive 2018 study.
Don't forget to pick up some nuts (cashews included!) the next time you're at the grocery store to add to your morning bowl of granola or to mix with fruit for a healthy snack.