Death-Defying Food: Almonds

When you really get down to it, one of the main objectives of life is to stay alive for as long as we can. On average, we occupy a place on this planet for about 75 years. Some of us hang around for a little longer, while others take an earlier ferry. Still, barring any unfortunate accident or contraction of a terminal illness at a younger age, 75 seems to be the norm.

Keeping your stay on this wonderful world of ours from being cut short sometimes requires a good amount of work (regular exercise, adequate amounts of sleep, stressing less, etc.). However, there are also some easy ways to prevent early departure, many of which involve nothing more than a revised grocery shopping list. For the next eight days, we'll offer one death-defying food choice each day to help keep you healthy and happy for many more years to come.

Death-Defying Food #5: Almonds

Packed with good fats, vitamin E, and calcium, almonds can help protect against a myriad of physical maladies. A recent study, conducted at the University of Toronto, led to the discovery that eating about an ounce of almonds per day can decrease LDL cholesterol by as much as 20 percent over time. Incredibly, this decrease in LDL is comparable to the reduction caused by some medications.