Nuts For Cholesterol

"This may be the first time doctors have recommended eating a
snack food to help your heart. A recent analysis published in the
Archives of Internal Medicine suggests that nuts eaten in moderation-
no more than a handful a day - can significantly reduce blood cholesterol
levels. Participants in 25 trials ate about 2.3 ounces a day of nuts such
as walnuts, almonds, cashews, pecans, pistachios, and macadamias. Results
show that "bad" LDL cholesterol levels decreased by 7.4 percent, and high
triglyceride levels (reflecting the amount of fat in the blood) dropped
by 10.2 percent.
There is one catch: nuts are nearly 80 percent fat, so daily intake
should be limited to no more than 2 or 3 ounces. The fat is mostly heart
healthy, but calories do add up. And instead of treating them simply as
a snack food, try using your daily serving in recipes, like substituting
walnuts for salad croutons or sprinkling almonds on yogurt."

-Bon Appetit Magazine December 2010