Health Benefits of Pistachios

What Are Pistachios?

Pistachios are one of the oldest edible nuts and are commonly used all over the world. They are native to Asia, particularly in Iran and Iraq. Archaeological evidence dates the association of pistachios and man as early as 6,000 BC. They were cultivated in Iran, Iraq, and Syria and were introduced to the Romans only in 100 AD. Today, apart from Iran, Iraq, and Syria, pistachios are being produced in many countries such as the United States, Australia, Turkey, and China, among others.

Pistachios are very nutritious, with a one-ounce (28-gram) serving of about 49 pistachios containing the following :

Calories: 156

Carbs: 8 grams

Fiber: 3 grams

Protein: 6 grams

Fat: 12 grams (90% are healthy fats)

Potassium: 8% of the RDI

Phosphorus: 14% of the RDI

Vitamin B6: 24% of the RDI

Thiamin: 16% of the RDI

Copper: 18% of the RDI

Manganese: 17% of the RDI

May Help Lower Blood Sugar :

Despite having a higher carb content than most nuts, pistachios have a low glycemic index, meaning they don't cause a large spike in your blood sugar.

Perhaps not surprisingly, studies have shown that eating pistachios can have beneficial effects on your blood sugar.

One study showed that when 2 ounces (56 grams) of pistachios were added to a carbohydrate-rich diet, the blood sugar response after a meal was reduced by 20–30% in healthy individuals (6, 32).

In another controlled study, individuals with type 2 diabetes showed a 9% reduction in fasting blood sugar after having eaten 0.9 ounces (25 grams) of pistachios as a snack twice a day for 12 weeks (33).

In addition to being rich in fiber and healthy fats, pistachio nuts are rich in antioxidants, magnesium, carotenoids and phenolic compounds, all of which are beneficial for blood sugar control (6, 33).

Therefore, simply adding pistachios to your diet may help control your blood sugar levels in the long term.

Aphrodisiac Properties  :

According to research conducted by Aldemir et al (2011), pistachios greatly influence sexual vitality in men. Studies have shown that those men who had a daily intake of about 100 grams of pistachios for three weeks improved their erectile function by around 50 percent. This was confirmed by ultrasound scans of blood flow in the penis.

Dietary Fiber :

One of the other health benefits of pistachios is that it is a good source of dietary fiber, which helps in the smooth digestion of food. A serving of about 1 ounce or 30 grams of pistachios contains about 3 grams of dietary fiber, more than enough to get your digestive tracts working at optimum capacity.

Pistachios may reduce your risk of heart disease in various ways :

As well as being high in antioxidants, pistachios may lower blood cholesterol and improve blood pressure, thus lowering your risk of heart disease (6, 10).

In fact, several studies have demonstrated the cholesterol-lowering effects of pistachios (25, 26, 27).

Many studies on pistachios and blood lipids are conducted by replacing part of the calories in a diet with pistachios. Up to 67% of these studies have shown reductions in total and "bad" LDL cholesterol and increases in "good" HDL cholesterol (28).

Meanwhile, none of these studies showed that eating pistachios negatively affected the blood lipid profile (28).

One four-week study in people with high LDL cholesterol had participants consume 10% of their daily calories from pistachios.

The study showed that the diet lowered LDL cholesterol by 9%. What's more, a diet consisting of 20% of calories from pistachios lowered LDL cholesterol by 12% (25).

In another study, 32 young men first followed a Mediterranean diet for four weeks. Pistachios were then added to that diet in place of its monounsaturated fat content, totaling about 20% of their daily calorie intake.

After four weeks on the diet, they experienced a 23% reduction in LDL cholesterol, a 21% reduction in total cholesterol and a 14% reduction in triglycerides (26).

Moreover, pistachios seem to lower blood pressure more than other nuts.

A review of 21 studies found that eating pistachios reduced the upper limit of blood pressure by 1.82 mm/Hg, while the lower limit was reduced by 0.8 mm/Hg (29).

 References : 

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/9-benefits-of-pistachios

https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/seed-and-nut/health-benefits-of-pistachio.html