May 01, 2007

Pistachios -- Who knew?


So pistachios just got the big thumbs-up from researchers at Penn State, who say they're actually quite good for you despite being tasty. (The pistachios, not the researchers, although they might be tasty too).

Crabby loves studies like these. Yay pistachios! And sure, they're still fattening, so don't crazy. (Crabby was going to say "don't go nuts" but thought the better of it. Sort of.)

Science Daily, which hopefully archives this stuff since Crabby links to it frequently, has the scoop. According to one article, apparently "a handful of pistachios may lower cholesterol and provide the antioxidants usually found in leafy green vegetables and brightly colored fruit."

And another article says that "eating pistachios may reduce your body's response to the stresses of everyday life."

Skimming further in the article, however, Crabby discovered that this valuable knowledge came at a price. The research subjects had to do stressful math calculations in their heads, as well as put their feet "in a bucket of ice water for 2.5 minutes."

Poor subjects. Hope they got paid.

But mmmm, pistachios.

Anyone have anything to share remotely related to Nuts, Antioxidants, Science, Stress, Buckets of Ice Water, Tasty Researchers, or Anything At All? Operators are standing by.

10 comments:

  1. Almonds are supposed to be super-good for you, too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have it on very good authority that cream filled apple donuts are good for you.

    Nuts? Well, you could sprinkle a few on I suppose. If you insist.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Darnit, bunnygirl beat me to it. I was going to mention almonds.

    As an aside my son just discovered he loves pine nuts. We had some in some Korean food the other day. So today I made pesto for the first time and he was in heaven. Pine nuts have got to be good for you too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love nuts. I eat macadamias fresh from the tree (if the green shield bugs don't get to them first). Love almonds too!!! yummy they're definitely good for you - enjoy

    ReplyDelete
  5. If you buy a box of salep you get free pistachios to put on top. This obviously makes salep really, really good for you, despite the sugar and all the fat in the milk you make it with, and...

    Yes, I bought some salep the other day and am using your post to pretend to myself I did it for my health :).

    ReplyDelete
  6. I must join the almond chorus.
    They're anti-cancer (colon variety methinks and the nuts must be raw) and if you can't hack dairy products almond milk is very tasty.

    I suspect research is going to show that most things which occur in the natural world are going to be found good for us.

    About 20 years ago I made a joking New Year's Resolution to lobby extensively to have chocolate declared a health food. I did no lobbying, but it happened anyway.
    Shall we put our minds to those cream filled apple donuts?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Most all nuts are healthy in moderation! Also raw is better!!
    Cooking nuts in anyway oxidizes the fat and that is not good for you!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi all!

    I can see there's definitely room for another Nut post in the future, you all are Nut Freaks and I mean this of course only in the nicest way!

    I'm not sure about this not-cooking-them-in-any way information though. Don't like the sound of this at all. Raw nuts taste bland and boring to me. I need to see a big fat pile of studies from somewhere Fancy and Prestigious before I'm going to give up eating them roasted.

    And Gillian--if you ever happen to return after this comment-athon is over at absolute write, I'm hoping you'll tell me what the heck salep is? It sounds bad enough for you that it might actually be tasty.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Salep is a Middle Eastern dessert. It's milk and sugar and something to thicken it and the scent of the orchid it's named after. Fragrant and beautiful. Almost healthy. Well, full of calcium, anyway :). And if you make it with low fat milk then it's low fat and full of calcium. I love it, but only buy a small box from time to time because it's terribly easy to get used to eating.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow, that does indeed sound very yummy. I'll have to look for it, though then i'll probably regret it because it sounds like one of those foods that could easily become a craving. Thanks for explaining! I'd really never even heard the word before.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting, Cranky Fitness readers are the BEST!

Subscribe to comments via RSS

(Note: Older Comment Threads Are Moderated)