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FITNESS TIPS : Almonds: Give Me Some Skin
If you're a health nut, munch on almonds with the skin they're in.

Topic: Food and Nutrition
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The skins give almonds extra heart-protection powers, especially if you take some vitamin E or vitamin C to boot. So what's in the skin?

Almond Attributes
Almonds abound with heart-healthy goodies, including vitamin E, monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, arginine, potassium, and fiber. The skins add even more nutrition: They're bursting with flavonoids that help protect cells from oxidation and inflammation. Look up the nutrition information of more foods here.

Synergistic Effects
In a lab study, almond-skin flavonoids helped prevent LDL cholesterol (what's that?) from oxidizing -- and that's a very good thing, because when LDL oxidizes, it can lead to heart attack. Adding vitamins E and C enhanced the effect by working synergistically with the almond-skin flavonoids.

SOURCES: Flavonoids from almond skins are bioavailable and act synergistically with vitamins C and E to enhance hamster and human LDL resistance to oxidation. Chen, C. Y., Milbury, P. E., Lapsley, K., Blumberg, J. B., Journal of Nutrition 2005 Jun;135(6):1366-1373.

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