Once demonized for their fat content, nuts have shed their less-than-healthy image and are becoming an important component of better-for-you products. As well as in snacks, nut consumption has zinc chelate thornealso grown through grain-free products, gluten-free flours and dairy-free milk alternatives.###According to U.S. Department of Agriculture figures, daily per capita nut consumption in the United States increased by 26% from 2000 to 2010. In that time frame, nutritionists started to tout their benefits and consumers became aware of sources of “good fats.”###More recently, the Food and Drug Adminiskirkland magnesiumtration has updated its definition of “healthy” to include high-fat products like almonds and avocados, a move that better aligns with the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Its decision to revise the definition came after snack bar maker Kind challenged an FDA warning letter stating that it could not call its bars “healthy” because they contained too much saturated fat — despite the fat coming from nuts. The FDA changed its mind, and Kind has since been allowed to use the word “healthy” on its packaging.###This latest study is just the most recent to back nuts’ health benefits. A qualified health claim linking tree nut consumption with reduced heart disease risk was one of the fircalcium citrate risksst to be approved by the FDA back in 2003, and earlier this moncalcium citrate malate with cholecalciferol tabletsth macadamia nuts were added to the list of specific nuts that manufacturers can mention on product labels for their heart health benefitferrous fumarate polysaccharide iron complexs. Other nuts that qualify for the claim include walnuts, almonds and pistachios.