I used to buy locally grown California pistachios, roasted and salted, at the farmer's markets on a regular basis. They were perfect for getting me though alt="Image of pistachio kernals" hspace="3" vspace="3" align="left">long slogging writing or grading projects without making me feel like I was eating junk food. Pistachios are, in fact, about as far as one can get from junk food, and may even help a dieter diet. Although you can get pistachios in all sorts of flavors, as well as unroasted, and unsalted, and even those horrible dyed ones, I'm going to be writing about roasted salted pistachios in the shell. The "in the shell" part is important, by the way, and I'll get to that in a little while. First, I want to talk about just why pistachios are a good source of nutrition as well as treat.

Most of the time, when people talk about nutrition, they use ounces or grams to refer to a serving. I'm not going to; I'm going to simply assert that 50 pistachio nuts is a serving. Why? Well, it's an "average" serving size for nuts, based on FDA data, which suggests a serving should be 30 grams, or about an ounce. Technically, 50 nuts, or the kernals themselves, is more than the FDA suggests by one nut, but 50 is easier to remember than 49. 50 pistachio nuts, as you can see in the two images, is a good handful.

Pistachios are good sources of:

• arginine—an amino acid that the body produces naturally, but that converts within the body to nitric oxide, a valuable chemical because it causes blood vessels to dilate, or relax. This may be especially helpful in terms of preventing clogged arteries, heart failure and other problems associated with arteries that are more constricted than optimal health conditions.
• phytosterols which help decrease the bodies absorption of cholestorol from other foods.
• mono unsaturated fats the "good" kind of fat; pistachios are just under 90% unsaturated fat. By substituting unsaturated fat for the "bad" saturated fats you can help your body reduce blood cholesterol levels, which in turn decreases the risk of heart disease.
• polyphenol antioxidants, especially lutein (not produced by the body, and essential for eye health), beta-carotene and gamma-tochopherol. These can help reduce your cholesterol, and prevent cell damage.
• 8 essential nutrients including thiamin, vitamin B6 (a serving provides 20% of the RDA), copper, manganese, potassium, fiber, phosphorus and magnesium
• A single pistachio contains around 3 calories; that's not bad. And a serving of roasted salted pistachios contains a mere 7% of the RDA for salt.

Nuts and seeds are an important part of a healthy diet, and pistachios are just about the most bang for you buck nut you can eat, as this chart comparing nutritional values of nuts shows. Here's why the "in the shell" part is important; it's the "Pistachio Principle." Pistachios hspace="3" vspace="3" align="left">are a great alternative snack food; have a serving of them instead of the candy, or potato chips you might otherwise have. You'll be less likely to eat quite so much at dinner, too, if you use pistachios as a before dinner appetizer. And if you eat them in the shell, the act of removing them from the shell forces you to eat more slowly than you might, which means you eat fewer in the same amount of time, you actually are more aware of the act of eating, and you can savor and enjoy them more. You can read about the Pistachio Principle here; it's pretty interesting.