The study saw the participation of people from the UK, who had ‘above average’ cardiovascular disease risk, and consumed almonds during the course of the trial. (Source: Getty/Thinkstock)

Have almonds every day, because there is no such thing as too many almonds. The dry fruit is packed with so much of dietary goodness that it is believed to be the go-to food item for your hunger pangs, along with your hair woes and skin issues. In a fact, a recent study has revealed that when you are hungry in between two meals and are looking for something to snack on, you must consider almond because it can improve cardiovascular health.

The study saw the participation of people from the UK, who had ‘above average’ cardiovascular disease risk, and consumed almonds during the course of the trial. The study was conducted by researchers from Kings College London, and led by one Wendy Hall. They compared the cardiometabolic health between two groups, and it was found that there had been an improvement in the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in the test subjects. This suggested that when you replace your regular snacks with almonds, you reduce the ‘adjusted relative cardiovascular disease risk’ by 32 per cent, the researchers said.

The study was published in the European Journal of Nutrition, and also suggested that those who eat almonds on the regular also have a lower waist circumference and a lower body mass index (BMI). “This study shows that eating almonds in place of the typical snacks that many of us consume, is beneficial for our heart health, by reducing levels of bad LDL-cholesterol and improving the health of our arteries,” Hall was quoted as saying.

For the research, experts took note of a four-day food diary of some 6,802 adults, and found that those who have healthier diets and eat almonds, also consume more of proteins, fats, vitamin C, fibre, potassium and other such healthy elements. It was also observed that these people have a lower intake of carbohydrates, sugar and sodium, and also trans-fatty acids.

It was also established in an earlier study that snacking on almonds may lower the hunger drive between meals, as compared to consuming savoury crackers with equivalent energy. Researchers found that this healthy snacking also led to suppressed unconscious desire to consume other high-fat foods, which could be useful in a weight management strategy.