Who says that small things can't be special? At least, this is not the case with nuts. In fact, these small packages are powerhouses of healthy nutrients for your daily nutrition. Although they are super rich health foods, yet there are many myths related to them. Despite scientific claims and facts, many people still believe that consuming nuts can make you prone to unnecessary fats.
Contrary to these myths, nuts contain lots of unsaturated fats that are also touted as good fats. They have antioxidants, fibers, and proteins in abundance. You should eat them daily, though, in moderation. But if you are still skeptical about the same, we are providing the pros and cons related to nuts for your help.
Pros of Eating Nuts:
The positives that will encourage eating handful of nuts daily includes:
1. Rich in Minerals and Vitamins
Most of the nuts are loaded with essential minerals and vitamins for your good health. These include Vitamins A and B. The minerals found in nuts include copper, selenium, iron, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. As such, they are always healthy to eat. Though, the level of nutrients may vary in their different types.
2. Aids in Weight Loss
While most of the people will disagree on this point, it is a proven fact that nuts help to shed extra calories if eaten in moderation and with caution. This holds true for nuts like almonds, pistachios, and cashews. They contain a lot of fibers that help to curb your appetite significantly. As such, they control your weight as well.
3. Lower the level of Cholesterol
If you want to lower down LDL blood and total cholesterol in your body, start eating healthy nuts right away. This is primarily due to the content of unsaturated fats in them. They have lots of polyunsaturated as well as monounsaturated fats in them. Also, some raw nuts have higher levels of phytosterol that controls the risk of any cardiovascular ailment or problem.
4. Rich in Omega 3 Fatty Acids
Nuts like walnuts are known for their high content of omega 3 fats. They also have lots of ALA along with some other nutrients. Studies have shown that these nutrients collectively help to reduce oxidation or inflammation in your body. So, they are always good for your heart.
5. Reduces chances of Diabetes
Nuts affect the level of insulin and glucose neutrally. As such, they reduce the risk of diabetes. Also, for diabetic patients, they constitute a healthy eating option. Their various forms like peanut butter help to lower the risk of Type- 2 diabetes, especially in women. It is also proven by research that nuts like almonds substantially reduce the chances of postprandial glycemia.
6. Rich in Plant Proteins and Dietary Fibers
Nuts contain lots of plant proteins. It makes them a healthy alternative to meat as well. They maintain the blood vessels with their high content of amino acids. The dietary fibers in nuts are also good for your health.
Cons of Eating Nuts
There are enough reasons to include raw or dry roasted nuts in your daily routine. But there are some hazards associated with eating too many nuts. These include:
1. High-Calorie Count
Almost every nut contains lots of calories. It is not a pleasing fact for calorie and health conscious people. Though, almonds are a better choice with the lowest calorie count of 160 per ounce. To control calories, you should refrain from oil roasted nuts that are heated at high temperatures in harmful oils.
2. High in Fats
Despite their high content of unsaturated fats, nuts tend to put on this extra baggage with processing and flavors. Sometimes, nuts are treated with preservatives and unhealthy chemicals that increase the level of sodium and sugar in them.
3. High level of Oxalates
Mostly, nuts have a considerable amount of oxalates. When these oxalates accumulate in the body fluids and crystallize, they may lead to the formation of stones in kidney.
4. May lead to Acne
Most of the nuts contain some oils that are detrimental to your skin. Those with sensitive skin must eat nuts in moderation to avoid breakout of acne.
These are some of the reasons that are enough to restrain you from eating nuts above acceptable limits. If you want to munch them daily for better health, unprocessed, raw, and light salted nuts in moderate servings are the best option for you.
Carbon nanotube or CNT is not a new term in the present scenario actually it is the allotrope of carbon sharing a cylindrical nanostructure. The length-to-diameter of nanotubes lies in between 132,000,000:1 and have very fascinating properties to be used con in nanotechnology, optics, material science, electronics and other fields of science. Due to their extraordinary thermal conductivity, mechanical and electrical properties carbon nanotubes are used as additives for various structural materials for example, in baseball bats, car parts and golf clubs nanotubes form a very tiny fraction of the material. Nanotubes are members of fullerene family which also includes the buckyballs and the ends of these nanotubes may be capped with the hemisphere of buckyballs. Their name has been derived from their long, hollow structure with walls formed by one-atom thick sheets of carbon known as graphene. These sheets are then rolled at specific and dicrete angle and the combination of rolling angle and radius decides the properties of these nanotubes. Nanotubes are either single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) or multi-walled nanotubes (MWNTs). The particles of nanotubes are held together by van der Waals forces. Applied quantum chemistry specially the orbital hybridization best describes chemical bonding in them. Chemical bonds are chiefly composed of sp2 bonds similar to those occurring in graphite and are stronger than the sp3 bonds found in diamond and alkanes and so are responsible for great strength of these structures.
Historical Background
In 1952, L.V. Radushkevich and L.M. Lukyanovich published clear images of 50 nm tubes made up of carbon in the Soviet Journal of Physical Chemistry but the article failed to arouse interest among the western scientists because it was published in Russian language and access was not open due to cold war. The invention of the transmission electron microscope (TEM) made the visualization of these structures possible. A paper published by Oberlin, Endo and Koyama in 1976 indicated about hollow carbon fibers with nanometer scale diameter by using vapour growth technique. In 1979, John Abrahamson presented evidence of carbon nanotubes in the 14th Biennial Conference on Carbon of Pennsylvania State University.
The whole credit to the current interest in the carbon nanotube goes to the discovery of the buckminsterfullerene C60 and other allied fullerenes in 1985. The discovery that carbon can form other stable structures apart from graphite and diamond compelled the researchers to find new forms of carbon and the result came out in the form of C60 that can be made available in all laboratories in simple arc evaporation apparatus. Sumio Lijima, a Japanese scientist discovered the fullerene related carbon nanaotube by using the simple arc evaporation apparatus in 1991. The tubes were made up of two layers with a diameter ranging from 3-30 nm and closed at both the ends. In 1993 single layered carbon nanotubes were discovered with a diameter of 1-2 nm and can be curved but they failed to create much interest among the researchers as they were structurally imperfect so the researchers are now working to improve the catalytic properties of these nanotubes.
Single walled nanotubes (SWNTs)
Most single walled nanotubes share a diameter close to 1nm with a length million times longer and the structure can be imagined by wrapping one atom thick layer of graphite called graphene into a seamless cylinder. The way by which graphene is wrapped in represented by a pair of indices (n, m) and the integers n and m represent the unit vectors along the two directions in the honey comb crystal lattice of graphene. If m=0 then nanotubes are called as zigzag nanotubes and if n=m then they are called armchair otherwise they are chiral. The SWNTs are very important variety of nanotubes because their properties changes with change in the n and m values and are widely used in the development of the first intermolecular field effect transistors. The price of these nanotubes has declined in the present era.
Multi waled nanotubes (MWNTs)
They consist of multiple rolled layers of graphene are there are two layers that can better define the structure of these nanotubes. The Russian Doll model says that the layers of graphite are arranged in concentric cylinders for example a single walled nanotube within a single walled nanotube. The Parchment model says that a single sheet of graphite is rolled around itself resembling a rolled newspaper. The interlayer distance in these nanotubes is 3.4. The Russian Doll model is generally considered while studying the structure of MWNTs. Double-walled nanotubes (DWNTs) is a special type of nanotube with morphology and properties similar to MWNTs with highly improved resistance against the chemicals.
Torus
A nanotorus is a carbon nanotube bent in the form of a torus and bears many unique properties like magnetic moment 1000 times more. Thermal stability and magnetic moment depends on the radius of the torus as well as the radius of the tube.
Nanobud
Nanobuds are newly created materials made by joining two allotropes of carbon namely carbon nanotubes and fullerenes. In this material the fullerene like buds are covalently bonded to the outer sidewalls of the underlying nanotube. This new material shares the properties of both fullerenes and carbon nanotubes. They are supposed to be good field emitters.
Graphenated carbon nanotubes
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