Crack the nut

Take a liking to pista as this dry fruit has many health benefits.

If people at home are worried about your love for nuts especially pistachio, commonly known as pista, and fear that it may lead to deposition of fats in your arteries and would have adverse affect on your health, then make them read the benefits of pista. Chances are they would pick up your liking for the nut.

“India is undergoing a rapid shift in diet and lifestyle with consequent rapid rise of obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Proper dietary management remains the cornerstone for the prevention and management of these diseases. If a part of visible fat and invisible fats from animal foods is substituted with whole nuts such as pista and almonds, it may lead to some metabolic benefits,” says, Anoop Misra, director, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases.

Pista is one of the lowest-calorie, lowest-fat and highest-fibre nut. Pista is not just high in fiber, potassium and protein but they are also high in antioxidants, which is believed to protect us from heart disease, cancer and aging.

“Pista is a good source of fibre and protein. You are likely to eat less but feel fuller for longer. But one should seek a doctor’s advice before making it a routine (eating pista) as he/she will guide on what should be the quantity taken depending on one’s medical history,” says nutritionist and obesity and health consultant, Naini Setalvad.

Benefits of pista:
Per serving of pista have more antioxidants than green tea. It contains more than 10 different antioxidants.

An appetite suppressing compound called oleoylethanolamide was recently discovered in monounsaturated fat (of all places). Fifty-five percent of the fat in pistachio is monounsaturated fat.

Because oils are not used during roasting, pista is naturally trans fat-free.

The green colour in pista comes from a compound called lutein, which helps to prevent the most common form of blindness in old people. A serving of pista has 3 grams of fiber. That’s more than many types of whole fruit.