Pistachios in the diet can significantly reduce cholesterol and help prevent narrowing of the arteries.

One or two handfuls of the nuts can make a big enough difference to lower the risk of heart disease, say scientists. --- Volunteers who ate three ounces of pistachios a day for one month lowered their total blood cholesterol by 8.4%. --- Crucially, levels of "bad" cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), went down by 11.6%.