As a kid, I think the only time I ate almonds was when I bought the Hershey's with almonds from a local convenience store. Nowadays, I eat less Hershey's bars of any kind (except for the occasional dark chocolate variety) and often find myself picking up a package of almonds at the grocery store.

A handful of almonds can make for a great, healthy snack. Packed with good fats, vitamin E, and calcium, almonds can help protect against a myriad of physical maladies.

In fact, a recent study, conducted at the University of Toronto, led to the discovery that eating about an ounce of almonds per day can lead to a decrease in LDL cholesterol by as much as 20 percent over time. Incredibly, this decrease in LDL is comparable to the reduction caused by some medications.