Nuts to you!

I've been waiting a while to be reminded of why almonds are supposed to be good for you. I sprinkle some on my salad at dinner, so I can feel as if I'm eating better and because they add a little crunch. At long last, the September 2008 issue of Men's Health magazine had a tiny blurb about them.

Almonds have long been known to have a beneficial effect on your cholesterol. But Canadian scientists recently found that adding almonds to a healthy diet helps significantly lower blood pressure, too. The likely reason: almonds are rich in magnesium, which has been shown to reduce hypertension. Grab an ounce or two of the nuts a day; that's about the same amount the study participants consumed.

Did you know that almonds aren't really nuts? The almond is Prunus dulcis, which belongs to the same genus as peaches (Prunus persica), apricots (Prunus armeniaca), plums (Prunus domestica), and cherries (Prunus cerasus). The difference is that you don't eat the outer layers of the almond, as you do those other fruits. Remember all those pits your mother told you not to eat? Well, you're eating one anyway.

Contrary to that old commercial for Mounds and Almond Joy, "Sometimes you feel like a nut," you're not actually eating one. I guess, more than sometimes, you don't.