The Afternoon Snack That Can Help You Live Longer

Reposted  |  By Jessica Girdwain  |  
Posted: 06/11/2014 10:02 am EDT Updated: 06/11/2014 3:59 pm EDT

As one of the cornerstones of a Mediterranean diet, nuts make an excellent addition to just about any meal. And now a study in The New England Journal of Medicine has found that eating roughly a handful of them daily is associated with a 20 percent lower risk of death. But while all nuts are healthy, each variety has its own unique benefits. We spotlight the standouts.

• Macadamias
  Getty Images
  Though these nuts pack roughly 21 grams of fat per serving, most of it is the unsaturated kind—so you can nosh guilt free. Macadamias are an excellent source of two nutrients vital for healthy brain and nerve function: manganese (one serving delivers 66 percent of what you need daily) and the B vitamin thiamine (30 percent of your recommended dietary allowance).
  Serving size: 10 to 12 nuts, 204 calories
• Brazil Nuts
  John E. Kelly via Getty Images
  The bad news: You can't eat a lot of them. Each of these Amazonian nuts contains about 33 calories—the equivalent of nearly 10 M&M's. The good news: You needn't go overboard to reap their health benefits. Just two nuts per day for 12 weeks can increase blood levels of the mineral selenium by 64 percent. Selenium is essential for proper immune function, as it helps build germ-fighting white blood cells.
  Serving size: 6 nuts, 186 calories
• Almonds
  Robert Decelis Ltd via Getty Images
  Call them the skinny nuts. In a 2013 study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who ate about one and a half servings of almonds with breakfast felt a 35 percent decrease in appetite an hour later. When the nuts were consumed as an afternoon snack, they quashed appetites by about two and a half times that, helping the subjects naturally eat less for the rest of the day.
  Serving size: 23 nuts, 164 calories
• Pecans
  Paul Poplis via Getty Images
  A small study in The Journal of Nutrition found that people who consumed about three servings of pecans experienced as much as a 33 percent drop in oxidized LDL cholesterol (the kind that causes artery-clogging plaque to form). The pecan's power may lie in its high levels of heart-protecting antioxidants.
  Serving size: 9 halves, 196 calories
• Pistachios
  Tom Grill via Getty Images
  Not only are pistachios the lowest-calorie nut of the bunch, but they're also rich in healthy unsaturated fatty acids. In a new study, a group that consumed 20 percent of their daily calories from pistachios for nearly six months had lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels—two risk factors for heart disease—and trimmed their waistlines more than those who ate a wholesome but pistachio-free diet.
  Serving size: 49 nuts, 159 calories

5 foods that can treat insomnia and improve sleep

Reposted from Natural News | Monday, May 19, 2014 by: Michael Ravensthorpe

According to the Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine, nearly 1 in 10 adults in the United States suffers from insomnia. Although most of these people suffer from short-term insomnia, many of them also suffer from chronic insomnia (i.e., difficulty falling or staying asleep for more than six months). Such sleep deprivation can significantly decrease the quality of one’s life. While stress related to work and family remains the number one cause of insomnia, eating the wrong foods — such as those rich in sugar, caffeine, gluten or polyunsaturated fat — can also contribute to insomnia. Therefore, improving one’s diet is an important first step toward ending insomnia, especially if one favors foods that are known to improve sleep.

 

Five foods that aid sleep 

1.) Almonds – Almonds are one of the best foods for treating insomnia since they’re excellent sources of magnesium, which is a natural muscle relaxant and contains anti-stress properties. A study published in the Journal of Research in Medical Sciences in December 2012 found that magnesium supplementation could “improve subjective measures of insomnia, such as ISI score, sleep efficiency, sleep time and sleep onset latency, early morning awakening, and likewise, insomnia objective measures, such as concentration of serum renin, melatonin and serum cortisol, in elderly people.” 

2.) Cherries – Cherries and cherry products have often been linked to improved sleep. For example, a study published in the European Journal of Nutrition in December 2012 found that volunteers who consumed a tart cherry juice concentrate for seven days demonstrated “significantly elevated” total melatonin content in their urine compared to the control group. Consequently, the study group experienced improved sleep quality and efficiency. 

3.) Bananas – Many people are often surprised to find that bananas can aid sleep, since they’re well-known for boosting energy. Nonetheless, bananas are also rich in magnesium, potassium and tryptophan, which are the “magic trio” of sleep boosters. Tryptophan is especially effective in this regard since it is the precursor to the two neurotransmitters, serotonin and melatonin, which modulate sleep.

4.) Valerian – The root of the valerian plant, which is usually consumed in tea or tincture form, has been used as a sleeping aid since Ancient Greece and Rome. Moreover, its sedative and anxiolytic properties have been proven by numerous studies. For example, a 2011 study published in Menopause found that valerian extracts provided a “statistically significant” improvement in sleep quality among postmenopausal women suffering from insomnia. The study authors concluded that the “findings from this study add support to the reported effectiveness of valerian in the clinical management of insomnia.”

5.) Oatmeal — Although oatmeal is usually associated with breakfast, its nutritional composition — high in magnesium and potassium — also makes it a suitable evening food. Even the very nature of oatmeal (warm, soothing and soft) is indicative of sleep and calm. Moreover, oatmeal tends to be mixed with milk, which is one of the best-known relaxation drinks.

Sources for this article include:
http://stanfordhospital.org
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23853635
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22038497
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21775910

About the author:
Michael Ravensthorpe is an independent writer whose research interests include nutrition, alternative medicine, and bushcraft. He is the creator of the website, Spiritfoods, through which he promotes the world's healthiest foods.

This month's featured product, Metal Detox 

Plus, click here to see other natural detox products 

In Health, 

The Naturally Botanicals Team

www.naturallybotanicals.com