Thursday, July 25, 2013

The Surprising Way to Make Almonds Even Healthier

The Surprising Way to Make Almonds Even Healthier

Something to sink your teeth into: The more you munch on almonds, the more you absorb their healthy nutrients, finds a new study from Purdue University.

Researchers discovered fewer wasted nutrients in the fecal samples of people who chewed almonds 40 times before swallowing, compared to those who chomped down just 10 or 25 times. In a similar experiment, some of the same researchers found 40 chews ups your body’s absorption of healthy nutrients by roughly 25 percent compared to fewer bites.

Chewing breaks down the almond’s cellular walls, making the good stuff in the nut’s cells more accessible, explains study coauthor Richard D. Mattes, Ph.D., R.D., a professor of nutrition science at Purdue.

Of course, no one has the time to count that many bites. Mattes says blending almonds and other healthy foods into smoothies (like this delicious cherry-almond concoction) is an easier method to maximize cellular breakdown and amplify the amount of nutrients your body needs.

But the truth is, you can’t go wrong with almonds any way you eat ‘em: Eat a third of a cup a day—no teeth workout required.

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