You don’t need to be a hardcore athlete to boost your heart health. Moderate exercise can significantly reduce your risk of heart disease and other chronic illnesses as well as improve your endurance, strength and flexibility. Any amount and type of physical activity is beneficial for your overall health, but read on for the amount of exercise and the top five exercises that will best benefit your heart.
HOW MUCH EXERCISE DO YOU NEED FOR HEART HEALTH?
Experts recommend doing some form of moderate aerobic activity for at least 150 minutes or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity each week. You can spread the minutes out in any manner that works for your schedule. For example, you can take a 22-minute walk each day (moderate) or run 15 minutes five times per week (vigorous). The key is scheduling some form of moderate to vigorous cardiovascular activity into your week and actually doing it.
5 BEST EXERCISES TO IMPROVE HEART HEALTH
Aerobic or cardiovascular exercise is any form of activity that increases your respiratory and heart rate, essentially challenging your heart to work harder and become stronger. Cardiovascular fitness will improve the way your body uses oxygen. As your heart becomes stronger, you will find that you aren't winded walking up the stairs, you can perform physical activity longer, and your resting heart rate will be lower, meaning your heart is more efficient at pumping blood through your body. Though any aerobic exercise is good for your heart, these five physical activities are top-notch for heart health.
1. BRISK WALKING
The human body was born to walk. Whether you rack up the miles on a treadmill or hit the road, brisk walking is a natural way to improve your fitness. Wear supportive, comfortable walking shoes, strap on your iPod and get moving. Though a leisure stroll is better than sitting on your couch, push yourself to walk at a fast pace to achieve a moderate intensity level.
2. RUNNING
Though more challenging than walking, running is another heart-healthy physical activity that the human body is ready-made to do (barring physical limitations or injuries). In addition, it is one of the best ways to burn calories (a 150-pound person can burn 100 calories per mile), a bonus if you are also trying to lose weight to reduce your risk of heart disease. If you are a beginner to running, start out with a brisk walk and add 1 to 2 minutes of running every 5 minutes of walking. As you get more fit, you can increase the minutes you run until you don't need to walk in between.
3. SWIMMING
The pool may be a great place to float lazily along, but that water can also be a full body fitness challenge. Swimming laps or even participating in water fitness classes will not only raise your heart rate and improve your heart health, the water provides multi-directional resistance that will improve your muscular strength and tone. Swimming is a safe alternative if you have joint problems that walking or running can aggravate.
4. CYCLING
Another cardiovascular activity that is easy on the joints, cycling is a low-impact exercise that you can do solo in the gym, in a spin class, or outside on the road or trails. Make efficient use of your cycling time and bike to work or to do your errands. Even better, join a cycling club and enjoy the camraderie. While your heart is pumping you'll also be building strength and toning your lower body as well as your core muscles, if you take your bike off-road.
5. INTERVAL OR CIRCUIT TRAINING
If doing a solid stint of aerobic exercise bores you tears, mix up your cardio. For example, for every 3 minutes of cardio, do 1 strength training exercise or a high-intensity burst of cardio for 1 minute. Another option is to choose 5 to 10 strength training exercises and perform 1 set of each, doing lower weight and higher repetitions while moving quickly from one exercise to the next to keep your heart rate up. This type of training will not only keep you motivated to exercise, it will improve your muscular strength, endurance and heart health.
Before you start a new exercise plan, talk to your doctor to make sure the physical activities you want to do are appropriate for your age, health and fitness condition
Wednesday, 25 December 2013
Alcohol's Effects on the Body
Drinking too much – on a single occasion or over time – can take a serious toll on your health. Here’s how alcohol can affect your body:
Brain:
Alcohol interferes with the brain’s communication pathways, and can affect the way the brain looks and works. These disruptions can change mood and behavior, and make it harder to think clearly and move with coordination.
Heart:
Drinking a lot over a long time or too much on a single occasion can damage the heart, causing problems including:
Cardiomyopathy – Stretching and drooping of heart muscle
Arrhythmias – Irregular heart beat
Stroke
High blood pressure
Research also shows that drinking moderate amounts of alcohol may protect healthy adults from developing coronary heart disease.
Liver:
Heavy drinking takes a toll on the liver, and can lead to a variety of problems and liver inflammations including:
Steatosis, or fatty liver
Alcoholic hepatitis
Fibrosis
Cirrhosis
Pancreas:
Alcohol causes the pancreas to produce toxic substances that can eventually lead to pancreatitis, a dangerous inflammation and swelling of the blood vessels in the pancreas that prevents proper digestion.
Cancer:
Drinking too much alcohol can increase your risk of developing certain cancers, including cancers of the:
Mouth
Esophagus
Throat
Liver
Breast
Immune System:
Drinking too much can weaken your immune system, making your body a much easier target for disease. Chronic drinkers are more liable to contract diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis than people who do not drink too much. Drinking a lot on a single occasion slows your body’s ability to ward off infections – even up to 24 hours after getting drunk.
Tuesday, 24 December 2013
How Fast Foods Effect You Negatively:
A fast-food combo meal may have over 1,000 calories.
Most people realize that stopping at the drive-thru for fast food isn’t the healthiest choice. It’s no secret that fast food is typically high in fat, sodium and sugar, and low in fruits, vegetables and fiber. But it’s convenient and often affordable. The downside, however, is more than just an unbalanced meal. Especially with long-term consumption, fast food can negatively affect you physically and emotionally.
Calories and Weight
The average fast food meal contains too many calories. A 2007 survey from the July 2009 journal “Obesity” found that the average fast food lunch in New York totaled 827 calories. Moreover, one-third of purchases topped 1,000 calories. Your caloric intake varies depending on your energy output. The average adult woman generally needs between 1,600 to 2,400 calories per day, and the average adult man usually needs from 2,000 to 3,000 calories per day. Consuming excess calories puts you at risk of weight gain and weight-related health conditions. In fact, a May 2012 study in “Obesity Surgery” suggested that among behavioral factors, fast food consumption had the most influence on the growing rate of severe obesity in America.
Insulin and Type 2 Diabetes
Regularly eating fast food over an extended period may increase your chances of type 2 diabetes, according to study findings published in a January 2005 “Lancet” article. According to the 15-year study, people who ate fast food at least three times a week gained an extra 9.9 pounds of body weight and had a two-fold greater increase in insulin resistance when compared to those who ate fast food less than once a week. Insulin resistance occurs when the hormone insulin does not properly regulate blood glucose levels. Hypertension, dyslipidemia and cardiovascular disease are also linked to insulin resistance.
Fat and Cardiac Events
Most fast food meals are high in fat and low in or devoid of fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables help balance a high-fat meal, reducing -- but not eliminating -- the adverse effects on the blood vessels. According to a study by Dr. Gary Plotnick, a cardiologist at the University of Maryland Medical Center, within three to five hours after eating a high-fat meal, the blood vessels function abnormally. For a healthy person, this is usually a minor, temporary event. For someone with coronary disease, this could cause a cardiac event, such as a heart attack or stroke.
Depression and Addiction
Researchers have linked fast food to depression. Compared to people who eat little to no fast food, people who regularly eat fast food are 51 percent more likely to develop depression, cites a March 2012 “Public Health Nutrition” article. The more fast food you eat, the greater your risk of depression becomes, the study concluded. Additionally, some research suggests -- but has not proven -- that fast food may be addictive, according to a September 2011 article in “Current Drug Abuse Reviews.”
What Is Cancer? What Causes Cancer?
Cancer is a class of diseases characterized by out-of-control cell growth. There are over 100 different types of cancer, and each is classified by the type of cell that is initially affected.
Cancer harms the body when damaged cells divide uncontrollably to form lumps or masses of tissue called tumors (except in the case of leukemia where cancer prohibits normal blood function by abnormal cell division in the blood stream). Tumors can grow and interfere with the digestive, nervous, and circulatory systems, and they can release hormones that alter body function. Tumors that stay in one spot and demonstrate limited growth are generally considered to be benign.
More dangerous, or malignant, tumors form when two things occur:
a cancerous cell manages to move throughout the body using the blood or lymph systems, destroying healthy tissue in a process called invasion
that cell manages to divide and grow, making new blood vessels to feed itself in a process called angiogenesis.
When a tumor successfully spreads to other parts of the body and grows, invading and destroying other healthy tissues, it is said to have metastasized. This process itself is called metastasis, and the result is a serious condition that is very difficult to treat.
How cancer spreads - scientists reported in Nature Communications (October 2012 issue) that they havediscovered an important clue as to why cancer cells spread. It has something to do with their adhesion (stickiness) properties. Certain molecular interactions between cells and the scaffolding that holds them in place (extracellular matrix) cause them to become unstuck at the original tumor site, they become dislodged, move on and then reattach themselves at a new site.
The researchers say this discovery is important because cancer mortality is mainly due to metastatic tumors, those that grow from cells that have traveled from their original site to another part of the body. Only 10% of cancer deaths are caused by the primary tumors.
The scientists, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, say that finding a way to stop cancer cells from sticking to new sites could interfere with metastatic disease, and halt the growth of secondary tumors.
In 2007, cancer claimed the lives of about 7.6 million people in the world. Physicians and researchers who specialize in the study, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer are called oncologists.
Malignant cells are more agile than non-malignant ones - scientists from the Physical Sciences-Oncology Centers, USA, reported in the journal Scientific Reports (April 2013 issue) that malignant cells are much “nimbler” than non-malignant ones. Malignant cells can pass more easily through smaller gaps, as well as applying a much greater force on their environment compared to other cells.
Professor Robert Austin and team created a new catalogue of the physical and chemical features of cancerous cells with over 100 scientists from 20 different centers across the United States.
The authors believe their catalogue will help oncologists detect cancerous cells in patients early on, thus preventing the spread of the disease to other parts of the body.
Prof. Austin said "By bringing together different types of experimental expertise to systematically compare metastatic and non-metastatic cells, we have advanced our knowledge of how metastasis occurs."
What causes cancer?
Cancer is ultimately the result of cells that uncontrollably grow and do not die. Normal cells in the body follow an orderly path of growth, division, and death. Programmed cell death is called apoptosis, and when this process breaks down, cancer begins to form. Unlike regular cells, cancer cells do not experience programmatic death and instead continue to grow and divide. This leads to a mass of abnormal cells that grows out of control.
What is cancer? - Video
A short, 3D, animated introduction to cancer. This was originally created by BioDigital Systems and used in the Stand Up 2 Cancer telethon.
Genes - the DNA type
Cells can experience uncontrolled growth if there are damages or mutations to DNA, and therefore, damage to the genes involved in cell division. Four key types of gene are responsible for the cell division process: oncogenes tell cells when to divide, tumor suppressor genes tell cells when not to divide, suicide genes control apoptosis and tell the cell to kill itself if something goes wrong, and DNA-repair genes instruct a cell to repair damaged DNA.
Cancer occurs when a cell's gene mutations make the cell unable to correct DNA damage and unable to commit suicide. Similarly, cancer is a result of mutations that inhibit oncogene and tumor suppressor gene function, leading to uncontrollable cell growth.
Carcinogens
Carcinogens are a class of substances that are directly responsible for damaging DNA, promoting or aiding cancer. Tobacco, asbestos, arsenic, radiation such as gamma and x-rays, the sun, and compounds in car exhaust fumes are all examples of carcinogens. When our bodies are exposed to carcinogens, free radicals are formed that try to steal electrons from other molecules in the body. Theses free radicals damage cells and affect their ability to function normally.
Genes - the family type
Cancer can be the result of a genetic predisposition that is inherited from family members. It is possible to be born with certain genetic mutations or a fault in a gene that makes one statistically more likely to develop cancer later in life.
Other medical factors
As we age, there is an increase in the number of possible cancer-causing mutations in our DNA. This makes age an important risk factor for cancer. Several viruses have also been linked to cancer such as: human papillomavirus (a cause of cervical cancer), hepatitis B and C (causes of liver cancer), and Epstein-Barr virus (a cause of some childhood cancers). Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) - and anything else that suppresses or weakens the immune system - inhibits the body's ability to fight infections and increases the chance of developing cancer.
What are the symptoms of cancer?
Cancer symptoms are quite varied and depend on where the cancer is located, where it has spread, and how big the tumor is. Some cancers can be felt or seen through the skin - a lump on the breast or testicle can be an indicator of cancer in those locations. Skin cancer (melanoma) is often noted by a change in a wart or mole on the skin. Some oral cancers present white patches inside the mouth or white spots on the tongue.
Other cancers have symptoms that are less physically apparent. Some brain tumors tend to present symptoms early in the disease as they affect important cognitive functions. Pancreas cancers are usually too small to cause symptoms until they cause pain by pushing against nearby nerves or interfere with liver function to cause a yellowing of the skin and eyes called jaundice. Symptoms also can be created as a tumor grows and pushes against organs and blood vessels. For example, colon cancers lead to symptoms such as constipation, diarrhea, and changes in stool size. Bladder or prostate cancers cause changes in bladder function such as more frequent or infrequent urination.
As cancer cells use the body's energy and interfere with normal hormone function, it is possible to present symptoms such as fever, fatigue, excessive sweating, anemia, and unexplained weight loss. However, these symptoms are common in several other maladies as well. For example, coughing and hoarseness can point to lung or throat cancer as well as several other conditions.
When cancer spreads, or metastasizes, additional symptoms can present themselves in the newly affected area. Swollen or enlarged lymph nodes are common and likely to be present early. If cancer spreads to the brain, patients may experience vertigo, headaches, or seizures. Spreading to the lungs may cause coughing and shortness of breath. In addition, the liver may become enlarged and cause jaundice and bones can become painful, brittle, and break easily. Symptoms of metastasis ultimately depend on the location to which the cancer has spread.
How is cancer classified?
There are five broad groups that are used to classify cancer.
Carcinomas are characterized by cells that cover internal and external parts of the body such as lung, breast, and colon cancer.
Sarcomas are characterized by cells that are located in bone, cartilage, fat, connective tissue, muscle, and other supportive tissues.
Lymphomas are cancers that begin in the lymph nodes and immune system tissues.
Leukemias are cancers that begin in the bone marrow and often accumulate in the bloodstream.
Adenomas are cancers that arise in the thyroid, the pituitary gland, the adrenal gland, and other glandular tissues.
Cancers are often referred to by terms that contain a prefix related to the cell type in which the cancer originated and a suffix such as -sarcoma, -carcinoma, or just -oma. Common prefixes include:
Adeno- = gland
Chondro- = cartilage
Erythro- = red blood cell
Hemangio- = blood vessels
Hepato- = liver
Lipo- = fat
Lympho- = white blood cell
Melano- = pigment cell
Myelo- = bone marrow
Myo- = muscle
Osteo- = bone
Uro- = bladder
Retino- = eye
Neuro- = brain
How is cancer diagnosed and staged?
Early detection of cancer can greatly improve the odds of successful treatment and survival. Physicians use information from symptoms and several other procedures to diagnose cancer. Imaging techniques such as X-rays, CT scans, MRI scans, PET scans, and ultrasound scans are used regularly in order to detect where a tumor is located and what organs may be affected by it. Doctors may also conduct an endoscopy, which is a procedure that uses a thin tube with a camera and light at one end, to look for abnormalities inside the body.
Extracting cancer cells and looking at them under a microscope is the only absolute way to diagnose cancer. This procedure is called a biopsy. Other types of molecular diagnostic tests are frequently employed as well. Physicians will analyze your body's sugars, fats, proteins, and DNA at the molecular level. For example, cancerous prostate cells release a higher level of a chemical called PSA (prostate-specific antigen) into the bloodstream that can be detected by a blood test. Molecular diagnostics, biopsies, and imaging techniques are all used together to diagnose cancer.
After a diagnosis is made, doctors find out how far the cancer has spread and determine the stage of the cancer. The stage determines which choices will be available for treatment and informs prognoses. The most common cancer staging method is called the TNM system. T (1-4) indicates the size and direct extent of the primary tumor, N (0-3) indicates the degree to which the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes, and M (0-1) indicates whether the cancer has metastasized to other organs in the body. A small tumor that has not spread to lymph nodes or distant organs may be staged as (T1, N0, M0), for example.
TNM descriptions then lead to a simpler categorization of stages, from 0 to 4, where lower numbers indicate that the cancer has spread less. While most Stage 1 tumors are curable, most Stage 4 tumors are inoperable or untreatable.
How is cancer treated?
Cancer treatment depends on the type of cancer, the stage of the cancer (how much it has spread), age, health status, and additional personal characteristics. There is no single treatment for cancer, and patients often receive a combination of therapies and palliative care. Treatments usually fall into one of the following categories: surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, hormone therapy, or gene therapy.
Surgery
Surgery is the oldest known treatment for cancer. If a cancer has not metastasized, it is possible to completely cure a patient by surgically removing the cancer from the body. This is often seen in the removal of the prostate or a breast or testicle. After the disease has spread, however, it is nearly impossible to remove all of the cancer cells. Surgery may also be instrumental in helping to control symptoms such as bowel obstruction or spinal cord compression.
Innovations continue to be developed to aid the surgical process, such as the iKnife that "sniffs" out cancer. Currently, when a tumor is removed surgeons also take out a “margin” of healthy tissue to make sure no malignant cells are left behind. This usually means keeping the patients under general anesthetic for an extra 30 minutes while tissue samples are tested in the lab for “clear margins”. If there are no clear margins, the surgeon has to go back in and remove more tissue (if possible). Scientists from Imperial College London say the iKnife may remove the need for sending samples to the lab.
Radiation
Radiation treatment, also known as radiotherapy, destroys cancer by focusing high-energy rays on the cancer cells. This causes damage to the molecules that make up the cancer cells and leads them to commit suicide. Radiotherapy utilizes high-energy gamma-rays that are emitted from metals such as radium or high-energy x-rays that are created in a special machine. Early radiation treatments caused severe side-effects because the energy beams would damage normal, healthy tissue, but technologies have improved so that beams can be more accurately targeted. Radiotherapy is used as a standalone treatment to shrink a tumor or destroy cancer cells (including those associated with leukemia and lymphoma), and it is also used in combination with other cancer treatments.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy utilizes chemicals that interfere with the cell division process - damaging proteins or DNA - so that cancer cells will commit suicide. These treatments target any rapidly dividing cells (not necessarily just cancer cells), but normal cells usually can recover from any chemical-induced damage while cancer cells cannot. Chemotherapy is generally used to treat cancer that has spread or metastasized because the medicines travel throughout the entire body. It is a necessary treatment for some forms of leukemia and lymphoma. Chemotherapy treatment occurs in cycles so the body has time to heal between doses. However, there are still common side effects such as hair loss, nausea, fatigue, and vomiting. Combination therapies often include multiple types of chemotherapy or chemotherapy combined with other treatment options.
Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy aims to get the body's immune system to fight the tumor. Local immunotherapy injects a treatment into an affected area, for example, to cause inflammation that causes a tumor to shrink. Systemic immunotherapy treats the whole body by administering an agent such as the protein interferon alpha that can shrink tumors. Immunotherapy can also be considered non-specific if it improves cancer-fighting abilities by stimulating the entire immune system, and it can be considered targeted if the treatment specifically tells the immune system to destroy cancer cells. These therapies are relatively young, but researchers have had success with treatments that introduce antibodies to the body that inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells. Bone marrow transplantation (hematopoetic stem cell transplantation) can also be considered immunotherapy because the donor's immune cells will often attack the tumor or cancer cells that are present in the host.
Hormone therapy
Several cancers have been linked to some types of hormones, most notably breast and prostate cancer. Hormone therapy is designed to alter hormone production in the body so that cancer cells stop growing or are killed completely. Breast cancer hormone therapies often focus on reducing estrogen levels (a common drug for this is tamoxifen) and prostate cancer hormone therapies often focus on reducing testosterone levels. In addition, some leukemia and lymphoma cases can be treated with the hormone cortisone.
Gene therapy
The goal of gene therapy is to replace damaged genes with ones that work to address a root cause of cancer: damage to DNA. For example, researchers are trying to replace the damaged gene that signals cells to stop dividing (the p53 gene) with a copy of a working gene. Other gene-based therapies focus on further damaging cancer cell DNA to the point where the cell commits suicide. Gene therapy is a very young field and has not yet resulted in any successful treatments.
Using cancer-specific immune system cells to treat cancer
The authors added that their study has shown that it is possible to clone versions of the patients’ own cells to enhance their immune system so that cancer cells could be destroyed naturally.
Hiroshi Kawamoto and team created cancer-specific killer T-lymphocytes from iPSCs. They started off with mature T-lymphocytes which were specific for a type of skin cancer and reprogrammed them into iPSCs with the help of “Yamanaka factors”. The iPSCs eventually turned into fully active, cancer-specific T-lymphocytes - in other words, cells that target and destroy cancer cells.
How can cancer be prevented?
Cancers that are closely linked to certain behaviors are the easiest to prevent. For example, choosing not to smoke tobacco or drink alcohol significantly lower the risk of several types of cancer - most notably lung, throat, mouth, and liver cancer. Even if you are a current tobacco user, quitting can still greatly reduce your chances of getting cancer.
Skin cancer can be prevented by staying in the shade, protecting yourself with a hat and shirt when in the sun, and using sunscreen. Diet is also an important part of cancer prevention since what we eat has been linked to the disease. Physicians recommend diets that are low in fat and rich in fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains.
Certain vaccinations have been associated with the prevention of some cancers. For example, many women receive a vaccination for the human papillomavirus because of the virus's relationship with cervical cancer. Hepatitis B vaccines prevent the hepatitis B virus, which can cause liver cancer.
Some cancer prevention is based on systematic screening in order to detect small irregularities or tumors as early as possible even if there are no clear symptoms present. Breast self-examination, mammograms, testicular self-examination, and Pap smears are common screening methods for various cancers.
Researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research reported in the journal Nature Reviews Drug Discovery(January 2013 issue) that they have found a new way of rapidly prioritizing the best druggable targets online. They managed to identify 46 previously overlooked targets.
The scientists analyzed 479 cancer genes to determine which ones were potential targets for medications. Their approach was effective - they found 46 new potentially “druggable” cancer proteins.
Not only will this approach lead to much more targeted cancer drugs, but also considerably cheaper ones, the authors added.
How to eat to prevent cancer - video
A guide to some everyday foods that contain nutrients that may help reduce your risk of getting cancer. Video by Howcast .
Monday, 23 December 2013
Almonds nutrition facts
Wonderfully delicious, almonds have long been revered as the epitome of wellness and health. The nuts are among the richest sources of health-benefiting nutrients essential for optimum health. Its plant is a small deciduous tree, native to mineral-rich West-Asian mountain ranges that provide fertile conditions favorable for their growth. In recent years, it is being cultivated in many regions of the world as an important commercial crop.
Botanically, they are the fruits from species of tree belonging to the family of Rosaceae, of Genus: Prunus. Scientific name: Prunus dulcis.
During spring season, the tree bears whitish-pink flowers that ultimately become fruits by autumn. In structure, the fruit is a drupe. A single edible seed (kernel), known as ‘almond nut’, is actually enclosed inside the stony hard shell. Almond kernel features oval to conical in shape, brown in color, measuring about 2 cms in length and 1 cm in breadth and weigh about 1 to 1.5 g.
Health benefits of Almonds
Almond nuts are rich in dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals and packed with numerous health promoting phyto-chemicals; the kind of well-balanced food ensuring protection against diseases and cancers.
These nuts are the complete source of energy as well as nutrients. They are especially, rich in mono-unsaturated fatty acids like oleic and palmitoleic acids that help to lower LDL or "bad cholesterol" and increase HDL or "good cholesterol." Research studies suggest that Mediterranean diet, which is excellent in monounsaturated fatty acids help to prevent coronary artery disease and strokes by favoring healthy blood lipid profile.
The nuts are an excellent source of vitamin E; contain about 25 g per100 g (about 170% of RDA). Vitamin E is a powerful lipid soluble antioxidant, required for maintaining cell membrane integrity of mucus membranes and skin by protecting from harmful oxygen-free radicals.
Almonds are free in gluten and therefore, are one of the popular ingredients in the preparation of gluten-free food formulas. Such formula preparations are, in fact, healthy alternatives in people with wheat food allergy and celiac disease.
These nuts are packed with many important B-complex groups of vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B-6, and folates. Together, these vitamins work as co-factors for enzymes during cellular substrate metabolism.
Further, they are also an incredible source of minerals such as manganese, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, and selenium.
Almond oil is extracted from the nuts used as an emollient. Applied regularly, it helps keep skin well protected from dryness. Additionally, the oil is used in cooking in Iran, and Turkey. It is also used as “carrier or base oil” in traditional medicines in aromatherapy, in pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries.
Hand full of almonds a day provides much of recommended levels of minerals, vitamins, and protein. Besides, almond oil extracted from the nuts has been used in cooking, and in medicine.
See the table below for in depth analysis of nutrients:
Almonds (Prunus dulcis), Nutritional value per 100 g. (Source: USDA National Nutrient data base)
Principle
Nutrient Value
Percentage of RDA
Energy
575 Kcal
29%
Carbohydrates
21.67 g
16%
Protein
21.22 g
38%
Total Fat
49.42 g
165%
Cholesterol
0 mg
0%
Dietary Fiber
12.20 g
30%
Vitamins
Folates
50 µg
12.5%
Niacin
3.385 mg
21%
Pantothenic acid
0.47 mg
9%
Pyridoxine
0.143 mg
11%
Riboflavin
1.014 mg
78%
Thiamin
0.211 mg
16%
Vitamin A
1 IU
0%
Vitamin C
0 mg
0%
Vitamin E
26 mg
173%
Electrolytes
Sodium
1 mg
0%
Potassium
705 mg
15%
Minerals
Calcium
264 mg
26%
Copper
0.996 mg
110%
Iron
3.72 mg
46.5%
Magnesium
268 mg
67%
Manganese
2.285 mg
99%
Phosphorus
484 mg
69%
Selenium
2.5 µg
4.5%
Zinc
3.08 mg
28%
Phyto-nutrients
Carotene-ß
1 µg
--
Crypto-xanthin-ß
0 µg
--
Lutein-zeaxanthin
1 µg
--
Selection and storage
Raw almonds unshelled. Note for the edible almond kernel inside.
Almonds are available in the markets' year around. In the stores, however, different forms of nuts are sold such as shelled, un-shelled (without outer shell), salted, sweetened, or powdered, etc. Try to buy completely shelled or unshelled raw nuts instead of processed ones.
While buying, look for the nuts that feature bright brown color; compact and uniform in size, and feel heavy in hand. They should be free from cracks/cuts, mold, and spots and rancid smell.
Shelled almonds can be placed in cool dry place for years. Store un-shelled nuts inside airtight container and place in the refrigerator to avoid them turn rancid.
Culinary uses
Raw whole nuts are generally cut open at processing units using larger sheller machines. Smaller nut sheller equipment or hand held pliers usually are being used for domestic uses.
Here are some serving tips:
Almonds can be enjoyed either on their own or salted or sweetened.
They are nutty yet pleasantly sweet in taste. Sweetened almond milk (Badam milk-shake) is a one of popular refreshing drink in Indian and other south Asian countries.
Most sought after among nuts in various rice dishes and curry preparations in Middle-East region.
The nuts are often sprinkled over desserts, particularly sundaes and other ice cream based recipes.
They are widely used in confectionery, as an addition to cookies, biscuits, sweets, and cakes.
The nuts are also used to make almond-butter, which is an ideal alternative for peanut allergy sufferers.
Safety profile
Almond nut allergy, although not so common as other tree nut allergies like cashew, pistachio etc, may cause hypersensitivity cross-reactions in some people to food substances prepared using the nuts. The type and severity of symptoms may vary and may include vomiting, diarrhea, pain abdomen, swelling of lips, and throat leading to breathing difficulty, and chest congestion. Therefore, caution should be exercised in those with nut allergic syndrome while using food preparations that contain nut products.
