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If you are looking to gift your loved ones something special this season, try assorted nuts and fruits. They are healthy and different. But, of course consuming those too much might cause health problems as well. It is mostly because dried fruit and nuts are a concentrated source of calories. So caution is advised. Once that is kept in mind, it is easy to see why consuming dried fruits and nuts on a controlled basis is a good idea for maintaining one’s health and staying fit. They are a healthy combination of protein, fibre and healthy fats after all.

Let’s discuss about the health benefits of dried fruits and nuts in more detail.

• Healthy fats: What are those healthy fats exactly? Even though dried fruits and nuts are a high-fat content snack, those particular types of fats are monosaturated and poly saturated which are healthy for the body. How are they healthy? They help reduce the cholesterol level in your blood by replacing saturated and trans-fats.
• High fibre content: The fibre content in dried fruits and nuts is such that even with a small portion one’s hunger gets satisfied. Thus, it delays hunger. It ultimately reduces calories and keeps the food intake in control.

• Alternative source of protein: Dried fruits and nuts can be included in your diet as an alternative source of protein. So, instead of beef, poultry and eggs one could consume dry fruits and nuts in order to have protein in one’s diet.
• Promote blood circulation: As dried fruits and nuts can be a good source of iron, they help in preventing anaemia and also, in promoting blood circulation. Moreover, they are rich in minerals like potassium, phosphorus and magnesium.

• Boost immunity level: Dried fruits and nuts comprise of many antioxidants which include vitamin C, anthocyanins, polyphenolic flavonoids, etc. This helps in protecting the human body from stress, and coronary heart diseases and cancers. They further help the body in building up a stronger immunity system to counteract those ailments.
• Keep minor ailments at bay: Not just major ailments like cancers and heart diseases, but dried fruits and nuts protect us from minor ailments like wrinkling of skin, hair fall too. In fact, their consumption makes the skin healthier and makes it look more radiant. It helps in hair growth and relieves stress and migraines.

Thus, we see that there are a lot of health benefits in consuming dried nuts and fruits. However, too much of a good thing can be bad. So, the consumption must be kept under control. They are definitely a better option than high calorie snacks. But they do have a lot of sugar content. As long as the consumption rate is checked at regular intervals one should be able to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Click here to know more.