Nuts or Olive Oil - Which is Best?

Nuts and olive oil are clearly good diet choices. But ever wonder which one is better? RealAge names nuts as the healthier option.

In a year-long study, people who ate a Mediterranean diet and added an extra ounce of nuts (a small handful) had a lower rate of metabolic syndrome compared to those who ate the same diet but upped their olive oil intake by four to five ounces per day. The theory behind this finding is that olive oil is extracted from olives, but nuts are a whole food and have more fiber, protein and minerals. Olive oil is still important -- just like nuts do, it helps reduce abdominal fat more than low-fat diets do.

A healthy diet, exercise and regular physicals can help prevent metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that occur together, increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Conditions include obesity (mostly the "apple shape"), elevated blood pressure, elevated level of blood fat (triglycerides), a low level of good cholesterol (HDL) and resistance to insulin.