7 ways Hazelnuts Benefit Your Health

Hazelnuts Health Benefits

Hazelnuts are not only tasty but are great for your health as well. The 7 important hazelnut benefits you should know about are —

1. Packed with healthy antioxidants

Hazelnuts, especially whole, unroasted nuts with the skin on, are loaded with healthy antioxidants. Phenolic compounds are the primary antioxidants found in these nuts. Studies reveal that consuming whole nuts for about 8 weeks could improve your health considerably.

These antioxidants protect your body against the oxidative stress caused by free radicals. This helps reduce inflammation risk and keep cholesterol levels under check at all times.

2. Good for overall cardiac health

One of the most significant hazelnut benefits is that it is vital for your overall cardiac health. The antioxidants and healthy fats in these nuts reduce your risk of high cholesterol, thereby keeping your arteries in good health.

Studies have proved that hazelnuts help to bring down the bad LDL levels while maintaining the good HDL and triglycerides at a healthy level. Hence, these nuts reduce your risk of cardiac ailments such as strokes.

3. Reduces the risk of cancers

Proanthocyanidins, a group of antioxidants known for their cancer-fighting properties, are found the most in hazelnuts compared to other nuts. Hence, consuming hazelnuts regularly can help reduce your risk of certain cancers (like liver, breast, cervical, and colon carcinoma) by protecting your cells against oxidative stress.

Other constituents in hazelnuts that help treat cancers and prevent the growth of cancer cells in your body are vitamin E and manganese. However, more research is needed to establish the direct link between hazelnuts and cancer prevention.

4. Helps control inflammation

The healthy fats and antioxidants in these nuts help in bringing down the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels that cause inflammation.

According to studies, eating about 40 to 60 grams of hazelnuts every day can bring about a marked reduction in inflammatory responses in healthy and obese people. You should complement hazelnuts with a healthy diet and lifestyle for best results.

5. Regulates Blood Sugar Levels

One of the important hazelnut benefits is its impact on reducing the fasting blood sugar levels in people with Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Although it doesn’t bring about any marked reduction as a standalone performer, it does a great job of reducing fasting insulin when mixed with other nuts, such as almonds and walnuts. The omega-9 fatty acid of oleic acid found in hazelnuts is responsible for lowering blood sugar levels and increasing sensitivity to insulin.

6. Regulates Bowel Movements

Thanks to their rich composition of dietary fibre, hazelnuts are very good for the overall health of your bowels. These nuts help clean your gut and reduce issues like constipation, irritable bowel syndromes, indigestion, abdominal cramps, etc.

7. Helps in weight management

While we don’t know if hazelnuts can help in weight loss, wht we do know is that hazelnuts can reduce the process of weight gain. According to studies, people who included whole nuts (including hazelnuts) in their daily diet were at a lesser risk of issues like overweight and obesity than people who didn’t.

Nutritional Value

Hazelnut nutritional value is quite high as they are packed with multiple nutrients that offer several health benefits. About 20 pieces of hazelnut contain following nutrients:

• 176 Calories

• 17g Fat

• 4.2g Protein

• 4.7g Carbohydrates

• 2.7g Fibre

It also includes a decent percentage of the recommended dietary intake (RDI) of these nutrients per day:

• 21% Vitamin E

• 12% Thiamine and Magnesium

• 24% Copper

• 87% Manganese

The hazelnut nutritional value goes several notches higher because it is also packed with reasonable quantities of these healthy constituents:

• Vitamin B6

• Folate

• Phosphorous

• Potassium

• Zinc

• Monosaturated Fats

• Polyunsaturated Fats

• Omega-6 Fatty Acids

• Omega – 9 Fatty Acids

How to Incorporate Hazelnuts into Your Diet?

Hazelnuts can be included in your diet very easily. You can eat them raw, roasted, with skin on, peeled, powdered, in a paste form, and other ways. You can even slice them and eat them if you have trouble chewing whole chunks of nuts. You can also use hazelnut powder as a topping for your regular curries or desserts.

It is always better to eat hazelnuts without peeling the skin because most of the antioxidants are found in the skin of the nuts. However, it is better to remove their skin for baking purposes (using flour and butter).

Whole hazelnuts are also dipped in chocolate syrup to make tasty chocolates to woo the kids into eating these nuts. Today, many chocolate makers mix and match various spices and flavours with hazelnuts to create innovative sweet treats.