They are sweet-flavoured marble-sized nuts that are found in salads, soups, sauces, pies, meals and snacks. They ain’t anything to be ignored since they are a powerhouse of nutrition, vitamins, proteins, fiber and most important healthy fats. They are Hazelnuts – little brown kernels that can be eaten in raw form too. They help reduce weight, are gluten-free, and tremendously good for your skin. Read below to find out how they will help you stay in the pink of health. All you just need is to consume it daily in some form or the other.
Prevent Cancer
Hazelnuts are blessed with powerful and nutritious vitamin E, manganese, and minerals which go all about in preventing breast and prostate cancer. The best part to know is that if the body has cancerous cells already, these nutrients put in their best to help diffuse these unhealthy cells. What a piece of relief this sounds!
[Also Read: What are the symptoms of breast cancer?]
Iron Boosters
For those of you bogged down with iron deficiency, hazelnut is a delightful choice. The iron content in them helps in faster absorption of oxygen by the red blood cells. You can get 30% of your daily iron needs by just eating a handful of hazelnuts.
Digestive Tract Friendly
Hazelnuts have good amount of fiber content that helps maintain regularity in bowel movement. What you therefore get is a healthy digestive tract, which is the core need of today considering our active lifestyles.
Cardiovascular Health
We know the tussle between foods that promote good cholesterol and bad cholesterol. Hazelnuts boost up good cholesterol. That’s because they are filled with fats which are good for the body. Since the nuts are rich in Vitamin E, this helps in building strong heart muscles too. Oleic acid found aplenty in Hazelnuts lowers bad LDL cholesterol and raises the good LDL cholesterol. Now make it a point to take in 40 grams of hazelnuts daily if you want to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Bone Strength
Human body is made up of bones from head to toe so it needs that much of healthy intake to make the bones stronger. Hazelnuts happily help. Since, they are rich in manganese, they help in making the bones stronger and sturdier. Women down with post-menopause are quite susceptible to brittle bones. Fortunately, the presence of manganese and folic acid in hazelnuts curtails the risk of broken bones. Therefore, get into the habit of having a single serving of hazelnuts daily. It will give you to the tune of 90% recommended Intake of manganese. Isn’t that a huge and promising benefit of hazelnuts?
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Nervous System
Our body needs daily intake of vitamins in keeping with the ‘survival of the fittest’ philosophy. Hazelnuts are high in vitamin B1 and vitamin B12 which help to run proper nerve functions. Vitamin B12 is also an essential vitamin for skin and hair. In short, hazelnuts help keep the nervous system healthy and spic and span.
Immunity
Hazelnut is a powerhouse of various nutrients such as potassium, calcium and few others. This helps in promoting blood circulation in the human body, thereby enabling increased immunity. So, it’s a good way of saying goodbye to illnesses!
Protein rich
Proteins as you know are an absolute essential for us when it comes to building strong muscles and healthy tissues. Pop in 10 hazelnuts daily which will help your body get 2 gms of proteins each day.
[Also Read: List of Low Calorie Foods with High Protein Content]
Recipe of Hazelnut Butter
Ingredients
- 1.5 cup raw hazelnuts
- A Blender
Procedure
Put your hazelnuts in a blender and switch it on. Do the blending until the oil oozes out and turns hazelnuts into a smooth, creamy butter. Once in a while you will have to stop the blending and scrape the sides of your container. Never mind if the oil is coming out during the blending action, keep the blender going. The butter is made so go ahead and eat it raw or toast it for breakfast.
Eat a handful of hazelnuts every week and see you shine to good health.