In a very interesting study involving Brazil nuts, ten healthy men and women were given single meal containing 0,5,20, or 50g of Brazil nuts with the aim to find out whether it affects their cholesterol levels. The results showed that subjects who ate 20 or 50g of Brazil nuts had a significantly higher HDL cholesterol (known as good cholesterol) and greatly reduced LDL cholesterol (known as bad cholesterol) just nine hours after the ingestion of nuts. Even prescribed medications don’t have such effect. For instance, it takes statins around four days to have any noticeable influence on blood cholesterol levels.

The researchers also measured the cholesterol levels of the volunteers five days later, and then 30 days later. The results showed that cholesterol levels were still down even though no one ate Brazil nuts during that 30-days period. Another very interesting fact is that the volunteers who consumed 20g of Brazil nuts had a more noticeable decrease in their LDL cholesterol and a higher increase in HDL cholesterol when compared to those who ingested 50g of Brazil nuts.

This is a table of the nutritional value of 100g of Brazil nuts:

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz.)
Energy 2,743 kJ (656 kcal)
Carbohydrates 12.27 g
Starch 0.25 g
Sugars 2.33 g
Dietary fiber 7.5 g
Fat 66.43 g
Saturated 15.137 g
Monounsaturated 24.548 g
Polyunsaturated 20.577 g
Protein 14.32 g
Tryptophan 0.141 g
Threonine 0.362 g
Isoleucine 0.516 g
Leucine 1.155 g
Lysine 0.492 g
Methionine 1.008 g
Cystine 0.367 g
Phenylalanine 0.630 g
Tyrosine 0.420 g
Valine 0.756 g
Arginine 2.148 g
Histidine 0.386 g
Alanine 0.577 g
Aspartic acid 1.346 g
Glutamic acid 3.147 g
Glycine 0.718 g
Proline 0.657 g
Serine 0.683 g
Vitamins
Thiamine (B1) (54%)

0.617 mg
Riboflavin (B2) (3%)

0.035 mg
Niacin (B3) (2%)

0.295 mg
Vitamin B6 (8%)

0.101 mg
Folate (B9) (6%)

22 μg
Vitamin C (1%)

0.7 mg
Vitamin E (38%)

5.73 mg
Minerals
Calcium (16%)

160 mg
Iron (19%)

2.43 mg
Magnesium (106%)

376 mg
Manganese (58%)

1.223 mg
Phosphorus (104%)

725 mg
Potassium (14%)

659 mg
Sodium (0%)

3 mg
Zinc (43%)

4.06 mg
Other constituents
Water 3.48 g
Selenium 1917 μg
Beta-Sitosterol 64 mg

We recommend you to eat 4 Brazil nuts every month to find out whether this study is true. Even if the study is not entirely authentic, we can’t forget the incredible health benefits of nuts.

You can learn some amazing facts about nuts in the links below:

http://nutritionfacts.org/video/nuts-may-help-prevent-death/
http://nutritionfacts.org/video/walnuts-and-artery-function/
http://nutritionfacts.org/video/which-nut-fights-cancer-better/
http://nutritionfacts.org/video/fighting-inflammation-in-a-nut-shell/

Sources:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248385213_A_Single_Consumption
http://www.healthy-holistic-living.com/brazil-nuts-lower-cholesterol.html?t=HHL

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