If you struggle with your cholesterol and enjoy pistachios you are gonna love this! There has been a number of good studies that show that eating one to two one ounce servings of pistachios a day will lower LDL (the bad cholesterol), raise HDL (the good cholesterol) and lower triglyceride blood levels. In the studies the good changes range from 20% to 5%. There were other factors in the studies that contributed to the range of improvement. These results are really remarkable! These kinds of changes are as good as many drugs that are prescribed today.
Limiting a daily intake to just two one ounce servings a day is the only down side I see with this news. Pistachios are so good it’s hard to stop eating them once you start. I recommend getting an ounce of pistachios out of the bag before you start eating to help limit over-indulging.
I highly recommend adding pistachios to your diet if you have problems with your cholesterol. There are few things that offer so much benefit with so little risk.
If you have questions about this article please don’t hesitate to ask! I have kept this article brief and as simple but if you’re the kind of person who wants to know all the nitty gritty details I would be happy to share them with you.
I wrote this back in February on my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/darrellkilcupdc I am putting it here so it can help more people. I would love to know if anyone who read this back in February added pistachios to their diet and what was the outcome? If you did please comment and let me know!
This is undoubtedly great news!!! We love pistachios and have a bowl on the counter all the time for snacking! Good to know the health benefits that accompany the enjoyment!!
thanks for your articles! I enjoy them and would respond more if I wasn’t always so distracted with life! 🙂 We appreciate all you do!!!
I had the same reaction when I read this Teresa! How cool that something so yummy can help a serious problem like high cholesterol.
I appreciate the appreciation! It is really a joy to do this when I can see that it makes a difference.
Keep the comments coming and it there is something I can help you with please let me know. If it is something you are needing I bet there are lots of other people needing help as well!
Thanks for this article! I think it’s time to check my cholesterol, so I will test this out. As you mentioned, my only challenge will be to limit my intake! So, how many pistachios is 1 oz?
Love your writings – they are like taking a class at home. Wonderful!
You are welcome! I am thankful you are getting help from the articles. It makes it all worth it!
***HONESTY WARNING!*** I have no idea how many pistachios are in one ounce. I have one of three pistachio eating modes. First is that I grab a handful and eat them. 🙂 Second is a grab the bag and eat way to many. 🙁 Third I don’t eat any cause we ran out. 😐 Knowing you you will find out how many are in one ounce so when you do please put it here so we all will know! HA! We could hold a contest!
Thankfully God has blessed me with great cholesterol thus far.
It will be fun to see what impact they have on your cholesterol.
Thank you for all the information you’re putting out there. With the way my cholesterol is up and down I will be purchasing pistachio’s asap. Thank you again for all you do. As I have said before you are the BEST!!!!!
Chris you are very kind and I love being able to help you! 😀
What is great Chris is that as I learn stuff and share it you can benefit even when we haven’t talked about it. Seriously when I think about all the things that any patient might be help by my knowledge it would literally take hours to talk about it all. There are so many different areas. So I am very glad this is helpful. I hope this is just the beginning of me helping you through this medium!
Come on, Doctor, if you are going to be helpful we need some practical answers!
I do not have a kitchen scale and if I did, would the 1 oz include the shells or not? I buy pistachios bulk all of the time, so is an ounce a quarter of a cup with shells or what?
Priscilla you’re right! What kind of doc am I? 😛
I can tell you that it is without the shells. According to Nutsonline http://j.mp/l2iKZE there are 49 pistachios in one ounce! 😀
I guess that was easier then I thought!
Thanks for raising the bar!
Dear Dr. I know pistachios are good to some extent, but do they make you gain weight. I am 62 years old and love pistachios, but I would hate to gain weight. I am 50 kgs., and my height is 5′.
Thank you, Rose Sydenham
Hi Rose! Great question! It’s difficult to give you a complete answer without knowing you. I would try to eat the minimum number of pistachios that will give you the health benefits and see if gaining weight is a problem. Try eating 50 pistachios a day and keep an eye on your weight and see if it is a problem.
Hope that helps!
And they are delicious, so that’s a bonus! I just read on Bettermedicine.com that niacin can help lower cholesterol as well. Which foods are high in niacin that you know of?
Hi Sarah! All the studies I know of that connect Niacin with lowering cholesterol used fairly high level found in supplements to get the desired effect. Niacin is in grains as are all the B vitamins.
Hope that helps!