Dry Nuts

The ancient Greeks regularly ate dried fruit as a snack or dessert. They also frequently employed it for sweetening purposes. Dried figs, apricots and raisins all served as a relatively easy and quick way of giving food some pleasantly sweet flavoring. The claims that a type of food "lowers the level of cholesterol" or "shields one from the possibility of cardiovascular conditions" or even that it "contributes to the maintenance of the balance of the intestinal chloris" can be seen today on the labels of an increasing number of products, yet they have to be certified by reliable international health organizations, so that they have a genuine value for the consumer. In 2003, the American Food and Drug Administration, one of the strictest bodies in the provision of licenses for the use of such claims concerning health, approved the following claim: "Scientific evidence, but not proof, suggests that by eating 42,5 gm of nuts  (1 ½ handfuls ) on a daily basis, as a part of a diet low in saturated fats and cholesterol, you can potentially lower the possibility of cardiovascular diseases". Simultaneously, the Mediterranean Diet Model, whose health benefits are undoubtedly recognized, proposes nuts as a part of the weekly diet plan and considers them excellent snack substitutes. In addition to the effects of nuts on the cardiovascular system, studies demonstrate that the frequent consumption of nuts can also lead to the decrease of the possibility of type 2 diabetes. Similar studies demonstrated clearly that women who consumed 5 or more portions of nuts on a weekly basis (1 portion = 1 handful), had 30% less possibilities of getting type 2 diabetes, in comparison to the ones eating nuts rarely.