The Skinny on Pistachios

Containing more than 10% of the Daily Value of fiber and essential vitamins and minerals, pistachios are a naturally low-fat, cholesterol free snack.  Bonny Burns-Whitmore, from California State Polytechnic University (California, USA), and colleagues recruited a group f 48 healthy young women, average age 21 years, to consume a diet to which pistachios were added (to comprise 20% of daily calories), for a ten-week period.  The study authors report that: “Inclusion of 20% of Kcals as pistachios in the diet does not contribute to weight gain or body fat changes, and may even potentially improve blood lipids and [blood pressure].”