Walnuts are perfect for a healthy anti-cholesterol diet at Christmas and are also rich in Vitamin E with great antioxidant properties, but also in magnesium and arginine.
Afraid of weighing down your body too much with lunches and dinners between Christmas and New Year? An anti-cholesterol remedy there and it’s easier than you can imagine. Because they wouldn’t be cold without dried fruit, and a healthy anti-cholesterol diet (all the tips to fight cholesterol) based on nuts (that’s why eating them) is the right thing for us.
Walnuts are often wrongly believed to be harmful because they are considered too fat to enter a proper diet. Today, however, science shows that, consumed in moderation, they obtain beneficial effects for losing weight.
In particular, it has been shown that a maximum of three walnuts a day can be used to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, especially because it lowers the levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol, instead containing many positive elements: it helps to satiate our body, reduces desire and the consumption of sugars and above all produces a lot of good fats. A recent study estimated the reduction in cholesterol to be at least 7 percent, which is certainly interesting.
Furthermore, walnuts are rich in vitamin E which has many antioxidant properties, but also in magnesium which is an essential regulator of blood pressure and arginine, which is an amino acid that promotes the dilation of vessels and reduces inflammation of the arteries. So clearly you can get important benefits for both circulation and weight loss.
Walnuts in the anti-cholesterol diet: two easy recipes
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Obviously, however, we must not exaggerate, because 100 grams of fresh walnuts bring 582 calories and dry ones even 689. So in the chain of the most caloric foods they are very high, next to oils, butter and margarine. This is the reason for two or three at most a day, an amount considered ideal.
So let’s see together a couple of delicious recipes to bring to the table at Christmas. Let’s start with the Walnuts Nutrition Facts. 800 grams of muscle, 250 grams of fresh tomatoes, 100 grams of walnut kernels, a clove of garlic, chopped parsley, broth, salt, pepper, two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil are needed. In a large pot, fry the garlic in oil and then place the meat on it to brown.
When it is golden, add the parsley, the blanched and chopped tomatoes and, little by little, the broth. Cook for at least two hours, adding the broth from time to time to keep it from drying out. It can be served with boiled potatoes or a nice puree.
Even simpler is the salad with bresaola and walnuts. Here the ingredients are 200 grams of mixed salad (valerian, soncino, and radicchio), 250 grams of bresaola, 150 grams of Asiago or fontina type cheese, 100 grams of walnut kernels, and two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, the juice of a lemon, salt and pepper.
Once the salads have been washed, prepare an emulsion with oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and sprinkle it on the salad. On top, lay the slices of bresaola and sprinkle them with the Asiago, cut into strips, enriching it with the health benefits of walnuts.
Anti-Cholesterol diet, how it works
The anti-cholesterol diet essentially seeks to limit the consumption of fatty and high- cholesterol foods compared to a diet based mainly on fresh, seasonal and whole foods. The foods to be preferred are therefore those that contain vitamins, mineral salts, starches and fibers rather than simple sugars or fats. Read Also: 17 foods that prevent breast cancer
All this obviously to avoid that, by taking an excessive amount of fats or simple carbohydrates (which if in excess are transformed into fats), the body is unable to dispose of them and therefore goes to accumulate them in the form of cholesterol in the arteries leading, in the long run, to a fatigue of the circulation and consequently of the heart with serious risks.
It is also very important to pay attention to the cooking methods. In fact, it is necessary to prefer light cooking, such as steaming, in foil, boiling, grilling, etc. avoiding frying as well as sauces and dressings rich in fat.
A diet that is actually beneficial not only to keep cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood at bay but suitable for everyone as it is low in saturated fat and rich in essential nutrients for our body.
Also important for “burning fat” is to avoid sedentary lifestyle as much as possible by practicing physical activity 2-3 times a week or simply walking briskly for 30-40 minutes every day.
