Health Benefits of Dry Fruits

Interesting things about Almonds

The song "Mera Nam Abdul Rahman, Pistawala Main Hun Pathan" from the 1956 movie Bhai Bhai is still remembered by elderly people like me, who formerly believed that pista, or dry fruit, was imported. However, Dr. K.T. Achaya notes in his book "Indian Food" that the benefits of dry fruits for health and nutrition have been known since the time of the sage Charaka (100 BC), the father of Ayurvedic medicine. These fruits include almonds, pistachios, cashews, walnuts, apricots, and pomegranates.

Almonds, the queen of dry fruits, are used in a recent article by Isabela Mateus Martins and colleagues to support this. Because they are a great source of protein, dietary fibre, monounsaturated fatty acids, vitamin E, riboflavin, and other minerals along with phytosterols and polyphenols, almonds are considered the pinnacle of health foods.

 Almonds are available at every dry fruit store, and there is mounting clinical evidence linking their use to a number of health advantages. The following other dry fruits provide health advantages: pistachios, cashew nuts, dates, raisins, walnuts, and apricots. In addition to dry fruits, Charaka noted that "wet fruits" including bananas, grapes, guavas, oranges, and mangoes are also beneficial to health.