Healthy Nuts for Health Nuts

Nuts, once derided as noxious blobs of fat, could be the secret of a healthy heart. Nutritionist Penny Kris-Etherton of Penn State reviewed 16 clinical and epidemiological studies and found that eating one ounce of mixed nuts five times a week reduces risk of coronary heart disease by 25 to 39 percent— probably due to a mix of cholesterol-lowering unsaturated fatty acids, antioxidant vitamins, minerals, and fiber. "Nuts are a high-fat food, but they contain good fat," she says. They even contain resveratrol, an anticancer compound found in red wine.