The potential health benefits of almonds

Although natural products have been used as food since ancient days, there hasrecently been a worldwide increase in the use of natural products as medicine. Therationale for this increase has been escalating awareness amongst consumers and thescientific community of both the health benefits of fruits, nuts, and herbs and the possibleundesirable side effects of many synthetic drugs. Nuts, in particular, have been animportant part of the human diet since prehistoric times, used to prevent or treat manydiseases. Generally, nuts are a rich source of several phytochemicals, mono- andpolyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Nut phytochemicals have beenassociated with numerous bioactivities known to affect the initiation and progression ofseveral pathogenic processes. Amongst the tree nuts, almonds are known to contain someof the highest levels of alpha tocopherol. Almonds are a rich natural source of proteinsand dietary fiber, important for growth and tissue repair throughout the entire lifecycle.Epidemiological studies have indicated that almond consumption is beneficial in thetreatment of hyperglycemia, cardiovascular disease, and hyperlipidemia. Furthermore,almond intake mitigates total and low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. The potentialhealth benefits of almonds will be summarized in this chapter.