Pistachios At The Heart

Pistachios as background
Image by Public Domain Images. c/o Pixabay.

We’ve looked at almonds and walnuts before now for their heart health benefits, but pistachios too are receiving some positive press as well. They are not only full of flavour and interesting and fun to eat but also healthy.

The pistachio is a fruit but to us an edible seed of the Pistacia vera tree. They are generally a very good source of fats, protein, fiber and assorted antioxidants.

Pistachios also turn up as an attractive addition in processed meats. A mortadella sausage which comes from Bologna is not easily recognisable unless it is flecked with these green tinged slices of nut within the mix. Clearly its not going to add to the health benefits of what is a defined fatty sausage but it does provide additional glamour to this famous large sausage.

The Nutritional Facts For Pistachios

The USDA Nutrition Database gives values for shelled pistachios which amounts to about 49 kernels:

  • Calories: 156
  • Carbs: 7.7 grams
  • Sugars: 2 grams
  • Fiber: 3 grams
  • Protein: 5.72 grams
  • Fat: 12.8 grams (90% are healthy fats)
  • Thiamin: 16% of the RDI
  • Vitamin B6: 24% of the RDI
  • Potassium: 8% of the RDI
  • Phosphorus: 14% of the RDI
  • Copper: 18% of the RDI
  • Manganese: 17% of the RDI

Pistachios are rich in pyridoxamine (vitamin B6). The same database gives the following data for an ounce of pistachios but unshelled:

  • Calories: 85
  • Fat: 7 grams
  • Protein: 3 grams
  • Carbs: 4 grams
  • Fiber: 1.5 grams
  • Sugars: 1 gram

Weight Loss And Dieting

Some people think that snacking on lots of nuts is not good for us and will ultimately lead to us putting on lots of weight and producing adverse triglyceride profiles. However, some nuts are great for snacking with such as pistachios.

 In one study which covered a 12-week weight loss program, it was found that eating 53 grams (1.9 ounces) of pistachios per day as part of a snacking treat was better for you than the equivalent weight of pretzels which represented a carbohydrate snack. It seems those eating the pistachios enjoyed twice the reduction in their body mass index (BMI) compared to those eating the pretzels (Li et al., 2010). 

Heart Health And Pistachios

Pistachios. Photo by posterize. Courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Pistachios. Photo by posterize. Courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

One study showed that after eating pistachios, LDL cholesterol levels dropped. This was revealed in a crossover feeding study although not a huge number of subjects took part. Sixteen people ate pistachios for three weeks as part of a controlled diet. Three levels of pistachio consumption were selected, none at all, 42 and 84 g/day. The level of LDL cholesterol lowered was  6% with the highest level of consumption but there were no statistically significant changes to the blood levels of plasma total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol or the  triacylglycerol content (Baer et al., 2012).

References

Baer, D. J., Gebauer, S. K., & Novotny, J. A. (2012). Measured energy value of pistachios in the human diet. British J. Nutr., 107(01) pp. 120-125
Li, Z., Song, R., Nguyen, C., Zerlin, A., Karp, H., Naowamondhol, K., … & Henning, S. M. (2010). Pistachio nuts reduce triglycerides and body weight by comparison to refined carbohydrate snack in obese subjects on a 12-week weight loss program. Journal of the American College of Nutrition29(3), pp. 198-203.
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