Add the delicious flavor and crunch of nuts to all kinds of foods from sweet to savory. Toasting them first will bring out their flavor and enhance a simple dish.

• Top hot or cold cereal with nuts for a nourishing breakfast.
• Sprinkle nuts on top of nonfat yogurt.
• Pasta comes alive when sprinkled with chopped nuts.
• Slivered almonds do wonders for everything from chicken to desserts.
• Add crunch and satiety to bread, pancakes, waffles, or muffins with nuts.
• Mix nuts with light cream cheese for a delicious spread.
• Add nuts to popcorn for a tasty snack.
• Enhance the flavor of steamed veggies with a handful of nuts.

Go nutty with 1 oz of nuts per day. You'll reap all kinds of health benefits.

Published Jan. 27, 2005.

SOURCES: The New England Journal of Medicine, 1996. Archives of Internal Medicine, July 1992. News release, FDA. Frank Hu, MD, PhD, associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health. Maureen Ternus, MS, RD, nutrition coordinator, International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research & Education Foundation. Kris-Etherton, et al. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition; December 1999. Hu, F. and Willett, W. The Journal of the American Medical Association, Nov. 27, 2002. Jiang et al. The Journal of the American Medical Association, Nov. 27, 2002. British Medical Journal, Nov. 14, 1998. Lopez et al. Diabetes Care, January 2004. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Jan. 5, 2005.

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