Eating nuts, are you completely nuts?!

Nuts are probably the most recommended food when you’re on a diet. But “don’t lose your nuts” sounds cooler than  “Eating nut are you nuts” doesn’t it? I was originally planning on doing a post on nuts and testosterone but what I found wasn’t what I expected. I always thought that nuts would increase testosterone and that’s why I kept eating them.

People will react more shocked than when they read my post about porn and testosterone. People were asking me if the conclusion was correct.

Lately, I also noticed that most guys don’t care about their testosterone levels. I suggest you check out three posts that I’ve written in the past. It’s unhealthy and dangerous to have low testosterone levels and it should be avoided at all costs. Strangely, people prefer to be fat instead of healthy. Right I get it, they don’t want to get out of the comfort zone and most guys don’t get the benefits of high testosterone.

1. low testosterone and the effects on your health and mind
2. high testosterone and it’s effect
3. how high testosterone influenced my life and mindset
4. My story before this blog. If this doesn’t motivate you to take action, nothing will

Should you go nuts aka nuts The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Nuts are little powerhouses full of healthy fats, protein, minerals, and vitamins. Since many people add nuts to their diet I decided to share the nuts which are great for your overall health. Overall health is as equally important as your hormonal health and that’s something people tend to forget.

Note: these nuts are best for OVERALL HEALTH and not hormonal health. I’ll go into detail which nuts influence your testosterone and how you can incorporate them. In other words, I’ll cover everything you’ll need to know.

Best nuts for your overall health

Walnut as the overall winner in this section and this should be a surprise to you.  Everybody uses them although they don’t taste that great. Well, that’s at least my opinion.

A 2006 study that was conducted in Spain found that walnuts are as effective as olive oil at reducing inflammation and oxidation in the arteries after eating a fatty meal.

Just like the rest of the nuts, walnuts are high in heart-healthy omega- 3 fats. So what makes them stand out? Walnuts have high amounts of alpha-linolenic acid. This is an essential fatty acid so this means your body can’t produce it, your intake will solely be from food. Besides that, there’s research that suggested that alpha-linoleic acid may help with heart arrhythmias.

Best nuts for your brain

Peanuts are high in folate which is a mineral essential for brain development. This may protect against cognitive decline. Just like other nuts, they’re full of brain-boosting healthy fats and vitamin E.

You can also use peanut butter instead of regular peanut but look closely at the label. Healthy peanut butter contains 100% peanuts and has a layered oil on top, it’s smooth and a bit liquid.

If your peanut butter contains something like palm oil, you’d better throw it away. Most commercial type of peanut butter is not that tasteful either. Besides that almost everyone loves peanut butter so why not add the healthier version of your diet?!

But consume these with moderation, more on that later in this post.

Best nuts for men

The overall winner here was Brazil nuts.

Selenium is a mineral that protects you against prostate cancer and other diseases. Brazil nuts are packed with it. But watch out since one contains more than a day’s worth of selenium. There is a link between too much selenium and type 2 diabetes risk. So add them to your diet but eat them sparingly.

Source: http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20585485,00.html#best-nuts-for-your-heart-0

How about nuts and testosterone?

It all started when I was planning to find evidence of the fact that almonds increase testosterone. I don’t know where I heard this for the very first time but I soon found out that this was wrong.

So why was this wrong?

Well, almonds increase Sex hormone-binding globulin( SHBG) by 16%. This can decrease the free action of androgens since SHBG bind pretty avidly to testosterone. This means that eating almonds will result in more SHBG which leads to less available free testosterone which leads to a lesser amount of total testosterone.

Am I going nuts without a reason?

Well, you are going nuts without a reason. It seems like the result of these studies is pulled out of the context.

Some people went paranoid about nuts and that how it all started.

There is also a study which concluded that walnuts increased SHBG. (study)

So can you eat walnuts? Of course, consume them sometimes without going completely paranoia.

Walnuts are healthy and creatine isn’t a steroid. Forget about it and don’t rely on this bro-science. There’s already enough bullshit floating around in the world wide web.

Except when you eat…

Men who followed a pistachio diet had a significant decrease in testosterone levels. This is because pistachios are a source of phytosterol and they researched the effects of a high intake in animals. Those studies had shown that a high intake of phytosterols can reduce testosterone levels.

The fact that pistachios weren’t included in the healthiest nuts section can be a good indicator that you better avoid them.

Besides pistachios, you should also watch out with almonds (I already explained why) and peanuts.

Peanuts are loaded with beta-sitosterol and just like pecans they’re just as good for men’s health. This beta-sitosterol is a plant steroid that may help relieve symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) or an enlarged prostate. BUT this also lowers the 5 – an enzyme and DHT levels. (study)

5- an enzyme converts testosterone to DHT (Dihydrotestosterone).

Everything in a nutshell

In this post I’ve covered some of the pros and cons of nuts but what should you do with nuts?

Well, it’s clear that nuts are beneficial for overall health so include them in your diet if you like them. It’s also important to take a look at your budget since nuts are pretty expensive.

It’s true that some nuts have an impact on your testosterone and even lower it. However, if you eat a small amount of nut a day it’s unlikely to cause a significant reduction in testosterone. Moderation is the key, my friends.

I also noticed that you can make a lot of jokes about the word “nuts”. Don’t worry I won’t divide a post to nut jokes otherwise you would be going completely bananas.

Be a man and don’t lose your nuts over nuts!

Till next time

Alex

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