Today is Rachel Weisz’s birthday (born in 1970) and I know her best from the movie The Mummy. The movie combines horror and humor with costar Brendan Frasier. There are some very interesting things from the movie that I didn’t know and wanted to share.
This iconic scene from the movie, shows Evy (Rachel) destroying the library. The amazing thing is the stunt double did it all in ONE TAKE!
Beni (the stereotypical lackey) isn’t exactly loved by anyone in The Mummy, as he forms an alliance with Imhotep to save his own skin, willing to throw everyone else into the fire for his own benefit. Beni isn’t even loved by the camels. There’s a scene that demonstrates just that, when Beni is loading a significant amount of gold onto a camel and it refuses to budge when he instructs it to go. Apparently, the camels just didn’t care for Kevin J. O’Conner, and made it plainly obvious. Even if it wasn’t in the script, it made for more laughs, and suited Beni’s character in all his glory.
While The Mummy utilized its fair share of special effects, not everything was up to technological expertise. Sometimes brave actors have to be commended, like Rachel Weisz, for experiencing things in reality. Poor Weisz was faced with rats crawling all over her in one of the final scenes in The Mummy, and audiences assume her horrified reaction is less to do with acting and more to do with her genuine reaction. Audiences are still creeped out by this scene to this day; in regards to authenticity, the film nailed this scene.
Clay pots get very dirty if they are left out over the winter. Now is the time to soak them so that they will be ready for the plants when the weather is warm enough for them to be planted.
11 Cut back perennials
Sometimes I do this in the fall, but more often, I leave this chore for the early spring, to keep some seed pods for winter birds. Perennials can be cut back almost to the ground level in most cases without hurting them at all.
12 Prune your roses
In most cases, you will be pruning your roses just as the plant will be breaking the winter dormancy. In warm climates, like NC, this will be fairly early in the year, just after the last frost. Roses bear flowers on last year’s wood. Trim off any old, dead canes. Be sure to prune so that the center of the bush is open for best air circulation.
13 Remove dead wood
This goes for roses but also for other trees and shrubs too. Nothing will grow from dead wood, so get rid of it. This goes for most suckers too. They sap the life from your plant and should be removed.
TIP: If it is too early for you to prune shrubs, you can still inspect the plants. Take some ribbon with you and tie it where you want to prune once the weather warms up. So get out those garden gloves and your pruning shears and get rid of the dead wood. You’ll be glad you did come summer time.
14 Spring weeding
Even though I have it listed as #14, weeding is at the top of my list for early spring garden project. Weeding can the bane of my gardening life, if I let it be. Each year, I say that I am going to pull up weeds during the winter on warm days, and each year, I neglect this. But early spring is a good time to weed as long as the ground is not too wet, AND it’s the best time to do this job. The roots of the weeds are shallow and they will come out easily this time of the year. This border that I planted late last summer looks as though it needs some TLC l right now, but those weeds will be out in less than a half hour and the bed will be beautiful.
15 Early spring Vegetables
Many vegetables thrive when planted in the early spring because they love the cooler weather. Some popular ones are English peas, broccoli, cabbage and Brussels sprouts. Here in NC, these plants don’t do well in the summer at all, so early spring is when I have to plant them if I want to grow them. See my list of cold hardy vegetables here.
16 Check your lawn edges
Inspect plastic lawn edging to see if it needs replacing. If you edge manually with trenches, now is a good time to tidy these up so the edges will be ready when the lawns start to grow. Doing it early means that the edges will only need cutting into soil, not into lawn that is encroaching into the borders.
17 Start seeds indoors
Get a head start on spring but planting seeds for flowers and vegetables indoors. I have a large plant stand that sits outside during the spring and summer. During the winter, it sits in front of my glass sliders and gets southern sunlight. It is the perfect spot for my plant cuttings and seed starting efforts.
18 Divide perennials
One of my favorite early spring garden projects is to divide my perennials. Early spring is the perfect time to divide perennials. Many of them really benefit from being divided for best growth. Either plant the divisions in another part of your garden, or share them with some of your plant loving friends.
Today marks the anniversary of the infamous Boston Massacre. This article from History.com details the events and the aftermath.
From History.com:
The Boston Massacre was a deadly riot that occurred on March 5, 1770, on King Street in Boston. It began as a street brawl between American colonists and a lone British soldier, but quickly escalated to a chaotic, bloody slaughter. The conflict energized anti-British sentiment and paved the way for the American Revolution.
Tensions ran high in Boston in early 1770. More than 2,000 British soldiers occupied the city of 16,000 colonists and tried to enforce Britain’s tax laws, like the Stamp Act and Townshend Acts. American colonists rebelled against the taxes they found repressive, rallying around the cry, “no taxation without representation.” Skirmishes between colonists and soldiers—and between patriot colonists and colonists loyal to Britain (loyalists)—were increasingly common. To protest taxes, patriots often vandalized stores selling British goods and intimidated store merchants and their customers.
On February 22, a mob of patriots attacked a known loyalist’s store. Customs officer Ebenezer Richardson lived near the store and tried to break up the rock-pelting crowd by firing his gun through the window of his home. His gunfire struck and killed an 11-year-old boy named Christopher Seider and further enraged the patriots. Several days later, a fight broke out between local workers and British soldiers. It ended without serious bloodshed but helped set the stage for the bloody incident yet to come.
On the frigid, snowy evening of March 5, 1770, Private Hugh White was the only soldier guarding the King’s money stored inside the Custom House on King Street. It wasn’t long before angry colonists joined him and insulted him and threatened violence.
At some point, White fought back and struck a colonist with his bayonet. In retaliation, the colonists pelted him with snowballs, ice and stones. Bells started ringing throughout the town—usually a warning of fire—sending a mass of male colonists into the streets. As the assault on White continued, he eventually fell and called for reinforcements.
In response to White’s plea and fearing mass riots and the loss of the King’s money, Captain Thomas Preston arrived on the scene with several soldiers and took up a defensive position in front of the Custom House. Worried that bloodshed was inevitable, some colonists reportedly pleaded with the soldiers to hold their fire as others dared them to shoot. Preston later reported a colonist told him the protestors planned to “carry off [White] from his post and probably murder him.”
The violence escalated, and the colonists struck the soldiers with clubs and sticks. Reports differ of exactly what happened next, but after someone supposedly said the word “fire,” a soldier fired his gun, although it’s unclear if the discharge was intentional. Once the first shot rang out, other soldiers opened fire, killing five colonists–including Crispus Attucks, a local dockworker of mixed racial heritage–and wounding six. Among the other casualties of the Boston Massacre was Samuel Gray, a rope maker who was left with a hole the size of a fist in his head. Sailor James Caldwell was hit twice before dying, and Samuel Maverick and Patrick Carr were mortally wounded. Within hours, Preston and his soldiers were arrested and jailed and the propaganda machine was in full force on both sides of the conflict.
Preston wrote his version of the events from his jail cell for publication, while Sons of Liberty leaders such as John Hancock and Samuel Adams incited colonists to keep fighting the British. As tensions rose, British troops retreated from Boston to Fort William.
Paul Revere encouraged anti-British attitudes by etching a now-famous engraving depicting British soldiers callously murdering American colonists. It showed the British as the instigators though the colonists had started the fight. It also portrayed the soldiers as vicious men and the colonists as gentlemen. It was later determined that Revere had copied his engraving from one made by Boston artist Henry Pelham.
It took seven months to arraign Preston and the other soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre and bring them to trial. Ironically, it was American colonist, lawyer and future President of the United States John Adams who defended them.
Adams was no fan of the British but wanted Preston and his men to receive a fair trial. After all, the death penalty was at stake and the colonists didn’t want the British to have an excuse to even the score. Certain that impartial jurors were nonexistent in Boston, Adams convinced the judge to seat a jury of non-Bostonians.
During Preston’s trial, Adams argued that confusion that night was rampant. Eyewitnesses presented contradictory evidence on whether Preston had ordered his men to fire on the colonists. But after witness Richard Palmes testified that, “…After the Gun went off I heard the word ‘fire!’ The Captain and I stood in front about half between the breech and muzzle of the Guns. I don’t know who gave the word to fire,” Adams argued that reasonable doubt existed; Preston was found not guilty.
The remaining soldiers claimed self-defense and were all found not guilty of murder. Two of them—Hugh Montgomery and Matthew Kilroy—were found guilty of manslaughter and were branded on the thumbs as first offenders per English law. To Adams’ and the jury’s credit, the British soldiers received a fair trial despite the vitriol felt towards them and their country.
The Boston Massacre had a major impact on relations between Britain and the American colonists. It further incensed colonists already weary of British rule and unfair taxation and roused them to fight for independence.
Yet perhaps Preston said it best when he wrote about the conflict and said, “None of them was a hero. The victims were troublemakers who got more than they deserved. The soldiers were professionals…who shouldn’t have panicked. The whole thing shouldn’t have happened.”
Over the next five years, the colonists continued their rebellion and staged the Boston Tea Party, formed the First Continental Congress and defended their militia arsenal at Concord against the redcoats, effectively launching the American Revolution. Today, the city of Boston has a Boston Massacre site marker at the intersection of Congress Street and State Street, a few yards from where the first shots were fired.
In a large bowl, beat the butter, oil and confectioners’ sugar until blended (mixture will clump together). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extract and food coloring.
Combine the flour, pudding mix, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in nuts. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375°.
Shape into 1-in. balls; roll in colored sugar. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until cookies are set. Cool for 1 minute before removing to wire racks. Store in an airtight container.
The common lilac (Syringa vulgaris)—also known as the French lilac or simply the lilac—is a member of the olive (Oleaceae) family. Its relatives include ash trees, jasmine shrubs and vines, forsythia bushes, and privets. The common lilac is a popular ornamental landscaping plant that’s fairly low-maintenance under the right conditions. Native to the Balkan Peninsula, lilacs have long been revered for the heady scent of their abundant flower clusters. In the 1500s, the flowering shrub found its way to northern Europe, and settlers brought it to North America in the 1700s. New Hampshire even made the lilac its state flower.
They are very low-maintenance plants and require little care beyond annual pruning and fertilization. They are great plants for landscaping, including border plants and hedges, and are quite beautiful on their own.
Common Lilac Care
Here are the main care requirements for growing common lilacs:
Plant in full sun in a loamy, somewhat moist soil.
Can tolerate periods of drought, but prefers good watering during hot, dry weather.
Can handle frigid weather but prefers a cool, moderate temperature.
Benefits from a good pruning.
Light
Plant your lilac in an area that receives at least six hours of full sun each day. Lilacs will grow in some shade but likely won’t produce as many of the prized blooms.
Soil
Common lilacs like loamy, somewhat moist, neutral to slightly alkaline soil. Lilacs must have good drainage to avoid root rot and other diseases.
Water
Lilacs can tolerate the occasional drought but likely would benefit from supplemental watering during excessively hot, dry stretches.
I found an interesting article about Dr. Suess since today is his birthday! He was born February 2, 1904 and he passed away September 24, 1991. Today is also National Read Across America Day! This article details 20 interesting facts about Dr. Suess.
From Parade.com:
20 Dr. Seuss Facts You Didn’t Know
1. Dr. Seuss was voted “Least Likely to Succeed” by his classmates at Dartmouth College (1921–25).
2. And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, his first children’s book, was rejected 27 times before getting published in 1937.
3. Dr. Seuss is credited with inventing the word “nerd,” which first appeared in If I Ran the Zoo in 1950.
4. Green Eggs and Ham was written on a $50 bet when his publisher challenged him to write a book using 50 words or less.
5. Celebrities who’ve voiced or acted as characters in TV shows and movies based on Dr. Seuss books and stories include Boris Karloff and Jim Carrey (How the Grinch Stole Christmas), Mike Myers (The Cat in the Hat), Danny DeVito (The Lorax) and Jim Carrey, again (Horton Hears a Who!).
6. The Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden in Springfield, Massachusetts, features sculptures of him and many of his characters.
7. Dr. Seuss comes by his love of verse from his mother, who used to make up rhymes based on pie flavors for him when he was a child.
8. Before finding success as a children’s author, Dr. Seuss earned his livelihood creating ads for an advertising agency.
9. At one point, Dr. Seuss’ father ran the local zoo, which is when Dr. Seuss began sketching animals.
10. Seuss added ‘Dr.’ to his name for his father, who had hoped he would become a medical doctor.
11. Dr. Seuss liked that “Soose” rhymed with Mother Goose, so he adopted that pronunciation, rather than “Soice,” which is the correct German pronunciation.
12. From 1943 to 1946, Geisel served as a captain (and ultimately lieutenant colonel) in the animation department of the Army’s 1st Motion Picture Unit and was sent to Hollywood to produce World War II propaganda cartoons featuring the military misadventures of Private Snafu.
13. After WWII, Seuss and his wife, Helen, lived in an old observation tower on a mountain outside La Jolla, California.
14. Dr. Seuss’s personalized license plate read “GRINCH.”
15. After publishing The Cat in the Hat and How the Grinch Stole Christmas in 1957, Dr. Seuss began receiving thousands of fan letters—so many that the Random House mailroom began weighing rather than counting the letters. In one year, they reported that Dr. Seuss received 9,267 pounds of mail.
16. The title character of Yertle the Turtle was based on Adolf Hitler.
17. Seuss was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1984, the first person to win for writing children’s books.
18. After graduating from Dartmouth, he enrolled at the University of Oxford but dropped out in 1927.
19. Dr. Seuss had no biological children. His second wife, Audrey Dimond, had two daughters.
20. His influence even reached the scientific community, where an Ecuadorian jumping spider is named after The Lorax. The Lapsias lorax has yellow markings near its mouth, which resemble the mustache of its literary counterpart.
Spring is the perfect time to begin lawn and garden projects! This article from thegardeningcook.com shows you how to get started.
From thegardeningcook:
These early spring garden projects will get a jump start on your garden and will get you outside too! From lawn care ideas to tips for growing perennials in the spring, i’ve got you covered. I know that in most parts of the country, the ground is still covered with snow, but as any good gardener will tell you, “it’s never too early to start thinking about spring gardening!” Spring is just around the corner and daylight savings on the horizon, so now is the time to think of getting our gardens ready. Are you like me in the late winter? As soon as the sun starts to shine and the temps go up a bit, I seem to feel that urge to get out there and do something. Many times though, it’s far too early to plant anything. However, there are lots of things that you can do to get ready.
Get your garden ready now with these early spring garden projects
NOW is the time to get started on some very early spring gardening tasks. These are my tried and true early spring garden projects that will make sure I get these results year after year.
1. Prepare for early lawn care
This is at the top of my early spring garden projects for a reason. A lush, green lawn is such an important part of a great garden. We all enjoy entertaining in the summer, and a wonderful lawn adds so much to the atmosphere of your garden setting. Early spring is the time to take stock of the condition of your lawn after a winter of it not growing. It will show what needs to be done to get it ready for spring when you can easily see the problems lurking there. I have a lot of lawn area and the back yard has quite a few weeds growing. It definitely needs some TLC in the spring. I’ll start by raking my lawn early in the spring to remove dead grown and winter debris. This brings light as well as air to the soil, which encourages the grass to grow. Now is the perfect time to care for your lawn. Don’t wait until the heat of summer hits. When you are hosting a barbecue party in summer and your lawn is lush and green, you’ll be glad you started now.
2. Clean and repair birdhouses
Some birds visit us all year round here in NC and many really start visiting when the weather starts to turn warm. Now is the time to check the birdhouses. Make sure they are firmly mounted. Clean bird feeds and fill them with fresh seed, once they are dry. Consider creating a pile of nesting materials in your yard where the birds can easily take stuff to make their nests. This little bird house needs a makeover this year. It belonged to my mother who died last year and I will treasure it once I fix the damaged parts.
Now is the time to clear away the junk
One of my most needed early spring garden projects is cleaning up after winter. Winter can be hard on a garden. All sorts of garden debris and other refuse seems to gather everywhere around the yard.
3. Clear away refuse
Check the drainage ditches and walk around your yard to see what can be gathered and put out for garden refuse pick up. Our local authority allows me to put yard debris out every week and I have a whole row of old trash cans just waiting for this job. Plants and lawns grow best in soil that drains well, so gather up those leaves, gather the weeds, and clean out the drainage ditches! If you have a compost pile, even better. I use a rolling compost pile. It is not very pretty, as this picture shows, but it is VERY easy to turn and all that yard refuse will turn into “black gold” that will work miracles in my garden and on my lawns. This pile is just LOADED with rich hummus under all the refuse. Dumping my winter time yard refuse on this pile makes the clean-up part quite easy.
4. Tend to the bird baths
My bird baths are often discolored by the end of the winter. They all need a good cleaning and scrubbing and then need to be refilled with water.
5. Think spring bulbs
Many spring bulbs start sending up leaf shoots during some warm winter days and then suffer a bit from a cold snap by getting brown edges to the leaves. The bulbs are just fine, they need the cold before they start sending up the flowers, but you can trim the leaves a bit to tidy things up. While you are at it, make a sketch of where the spring bulbs are and put it in your gardening planner. Once they have stopped growing, it will be hard to know where to plant your perennials without a sketch showing you where the bulbs are underground.
6 Check your mulched areas
This job is at the top of my must-dos of early spring garden projects. I have 9 large garden beds so I spend a lot of time (and money) on mulching every year. And no matter how nicely the mulched areas looked last fall, there are still areas where the mulch has degraded or (it sometimes seems) just plain disappeared! Add composted leaf mulch to the bare areas so that the weeds that we all know are lurking there won’t be able to grow as easily.
7 Check your outdoor seating areas
Last year, I bought new patio cushions for my seating area which rests under a huge Magnolia tree. By mid-winter, the cushions were a green mess and I honestly thought I would need to throw them away. But I threw them in the washing machine with some spray on stain remover (it took two washes) and they look almost like new. Note to self: Next year, put the patio cushions in the shed in the fall! One of my summer projects for this seating area is going to be to sand the seat and bench and give it a fresh coat of paint in a dark green color. Stay tuned for the transformation.
8 Touch up yard decorations
Of all of my early spring garden projects, this one is my favorite. I love to add decor to my garden. Do you have some yard decorations that will need a touch up to look their best for spring and summer? I have an old mail box that I salvaged from a make-over that I did last summer. I plan to use to hold my gardening tools, and have a garden decoration too. It’s very rusty, but will make a great project for early spring when I can’t actually be gardening. I plan to paint it and stencil on the side. It will make a lovely yard decoration when done.
9 Cut back ornamental grasses
I let my Japanese Silver grass get very tall in the winter because it sends up beautiful plums above the plant. But early spring is the time to cut it right now to about 6 inches to encourage lush growth during the spring and summer. If I leave this plant for even a few more weeks, ALL of these fronds will be covering my garden bed. Now is the time to prune them.
The bighorn sheep is a majestic species of animal native to western North America. They are considered a “big game” trophy in many parts of the world and have been hunted by humans for their meat and fur since ancient times. Bighorn sheep are not only the largest sheep in North America, they are also wild. In this article, you’ll learn 8 facts about bighorn sheep.
8 Facts about bighorn sheep
These magnificent mammals are some of the first animals that come to mind when we think of the North American West and they were once a major source of food and income for humans living in areas where they reside.
1 The bighorn sheep is one of two wild sheep species in North America with large horns
Bighorn sheep are not the only wild sheep in North America with large horns. The other is the Dall sheep, which is found in Alaska and Canada. But unlike the Dall sheep, bighorn sheep are found throughout western North America, with populations in the US states of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington as well as the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan.
2 The bighorn sheep has 3 subspecies
The Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, the desert bighorn sheep, and the Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep are each a part of the single bighorn sheep subspecies. Each subspecies has adaptations to help it survive, such as fur color and terrain.
The Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep is the largest of the 3 subspecies and has adaptations to survive its harsh surroundings. These sheep have large hooves that help them traverse rocky, mountainous terrain with ease. Additionally, they are able to eat plants found in these areas, such as grasses and shrubs. As a result, they have longer coats to help insulate them from the cold.
The desert bighorn sheep has adaptations to survive in its hot and arid climate. These sheep have shorter, coarser fur that can withstand intense heat, as well as large noses to help them avoid breathing in dust. They also tend to travel only at night when it is cool and avoid areas where there is a lot of vegetation.
The Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep has adaptations to survive its high, dry climate. These sheep have longer fur that helps insulate them from the cold, as well as large hooves that can help them traverse challenging terrain. Additionally, these sheep are also able to eat plants in their environments, such as fungi and woody shrubs.
3 Rams and ewes have differently shaped horns
Rams are male sheep and ewes are female sheep. A rams’ horns are thicker and curve forward and ewes have more slender horns that stick straight out from their heads. This difference is important for the sheep population to survive because rams use their horns as a defense against predators and competition from other males, as well as for fighting and courting females.
4 Bighorn sheep can climb steep cliffs without much effort
Bighorn sheep are known for their ability to climb steep cliffs with relative ease. They have strong neck muscles, and their hooves are able to cling to even the roughest of surfaces. These traits help them find food during certain times of the year when food may be scarce, such as in the winter months or in more arid regions. This adaptation also helps them to evade predators.
5 Bighorn sheep have 4-part stomachs
Bighorn sheep are ruminants, meaning that they have a four-part stomach. After their first meal, which usually consists of grass and other plants, bighorn sheep chew their cud – or regurgitated food – before digesting it again. Their digestive system is specially designed to let them eat and process fiber-rich vegetation from harsh environments.
6 Rams spend most of their lives in a bachelor flock
Rams leave their mother’s ewe group a few years after being born to go join a herd of rams. This is known as a bachelor flock. This bachelor herd can be anywhere from two rams to over 10 and they only leave the herd during mating season. The rams spend most of their lives in this bachelor flock.
7 Rams fight over who is allowed to mate with the ewes
It can be hard for rams younger than 7 or 8 years to mate. Bighorn sheep have a hierarchy that favors older rams with bigger horns, making it difficult for younger rams to find a mate. During the mating season, known as the rut, rams will compete against each other for dominance and the right to mate with ewes. This competition can take up to a month, with rams fighting aggressively using their horns to battle it out. Only one ram will be selected to mate with the ewes, and after mating, the victorious rams will return to their bachelor herds.
Despite these challenges, many younger rams are able to successfully find a mate during the rut. Ultimately, it all comes down to size and dominance – larger and older rams are more likely to win in the mating battles and are therefore more likely to find a mate. However, even small rams can get lucky if they manage to outsmart or intimidate their larger competitors.
8 The skulls of bighorn sheep are made for head-to-head combat that males engage in
The bighorn sheep is a species of large, sturdy-looking mammal with thick fur and huge curved horns. These horns can measure up to three feet in length, allowing the bighorns to engage in head-to-head combat with one another. The skulls of the males are particularly suited for this; they have thick bones that can withstand the repeated battering that occurs during fights. This is an important aspect of bighorn sheep adaptation, as competition for females is fierce among males.
Pistachios are rich in various nutrients and may support weight loss, gut health, blood sugar management, and heart health. They can be enjoyed in many recipes. Pistachio nuts are not only tasty and fun to eat, but also highly nutritious. In fact, these edible seeds of the Pistacia vera tree contain healthy fats and are a good source of protein, fiber, and antioxidants. Pistachio intake can be traced back nearly 300,000 years. Nowadays, they’re very popular in many dishes, including ice cream and desserts.
Here are 9 evidence-based health benefits of pistachios.
Pistachios are very nutritious, with a 1-ounce (oz), or 28-gram (g), serving of about 49 pistachios containing the following nutrients:
Calories: 159
Carbs: 8 g
Fiber: 3 g
Protein: 6 g
Fat: 13 g
Potassium: 6% of the Daily Value (DV)
Phosphorus: 11% of the DV
Vitamin B6: 28% of the DV
Thiamine: 21% of the DV
Copper: 41% of the DV
Manganese: 15% of the DV
Notably, pistachios are one of the most Vitamin B6-rich foods available. Vitamin B6 is important for several bodily functions including blood sugar regulation and the formation of hemoglobin, a molecule that carries oxygen in red blood cells. Pistachios are also rich in potassium, with 1 oz containing more potassium than half of a banana.
Antioxidants are molecules that help prevent cell damage and play a key role in reducing the risk of certain health conditions, such as cancer. Pistachios are a great source of antioxidants. They may also contain a higher amount than other varieties of nuts and seeds, according to some older studies. Pistachios are especially rich in lutein and zeaxanthin, two important antioxidants for eye health. These compounds help protect your eyes from damage caused by blue light and age-related macular degeneration, a condition in which your central vision is impaired or lost. They’re also rich in polyphenols and tocopherols, two types of antioxidants that may help protect against cancer and heart disease.
While nuts have many health benefits, they’re typically high in calories. If you’re managing your calorie intake, this could make it more difficult to fit them into your diet. However, pistachios are among the lowest-calorie nuts. Each oz (28 g) of pistachios contains 159 calories, compared with 185 calories in walnuts and 196 calories in pecans. Protein also comprises about 14% of their calorie content, making pistachios second only to almonds when it comes to protein content. Plus, pistachios are rich in essential amino acids, which must be obtained through diet because your body cannot produce them.
Despite being an energy-dense food, pistachios are a great weight-loss-friendly food. Pistachios are rich in fiber and protein, both of which may contribute to weight loss by increasing feelings of fullness and helping you eat less. A 2020 review of 11 studies found that regular consumption of pistachios may be linked to a reduction in body mass index (BMI), which is used to estimate body fat. However, pistachios were not associated with changes in body weight or belly fat. A 2020 study also found that participants who ate pistachios experienced reductions in blood pressure, ate fewer sweets, and increased their fiber intake, all factors that may contribute to weight loss. Another factor possibly contributing to pistachios’ weight loss properties is that their fat content might not be fully absorbed. Part of their fat content may be stuck within their cell walls, preventing it from being digested in the gut. Lastly, in-shell pistachios may be good for mindful eating, as shelling the nuts takes time and slows the eating rate. A 2011 study found that individuals who ate in-shell pistachios consumed 41% fewer calories than those who ate shelled pistachios.
Pistachios are high in fiber, with one serving containing 3 g. Fiber moves through your digestive system mostly undigested, and some types of fiber are digested by the good bacteria in your gut, acting as prebiotics. Gut bacteria then ferment the fiber and convert it into short-chain fatty acids, which may have several health benefits, including a reduced risk of developing digestive disorders, cancer, and heart disease. Butyrate is perhaps the most beneficial of these short-chain fatty acids. In one 2014 study, eating pistachios increased the number of butyrate-producing bacteria in the gut to a greater extent than eating almonds.
Pistachios may reduce your risk of heart disease in various ways. For instance, they could help lower blood cholesterol and improve blood pressure. Many studies on pistachios and blood lipids involve replacing part of the calories in a diet with pistachios. Up to 67% of the studies in a 2016 review found reductions in total and LDL (bad) cholesterol and increases in HDL (good) cholesterol. Meanwhile, none of these studies observed that eating pistachios harmed the blood lipid profile. Pistachios may also lower blood pressure more than other nuts. A 2015 review of 21 studies found that eating pistachios reduced systolic blood pressure by 1.82 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) and decreased diastolic blood pressure by 0.8 mmHg.
The endothelium is the inner lining of blood vessels. It’s important that it works properly, as endothelial dysfunction is a risk factor for heart disease. Vasodilation is the widening or dilating of blood vessels. Endothelial dysfunction is characterized by reduced vasodilation, which leads to decreased blood flow and increased blood pressure. Nitric oxide is a compound that plays an important role in vasodilation. It causes blood vessels to dilate by signaling the smooth cells in the endothelium to relax. Like most nuts, pistachios are a source of the amino acid L-arginine, which is converted into nitric oxide in the body. Therefore, these tiny nuts may play an important role in promoting blood vessel health. A 2014 study in 42 people who consumed 1.5 oz (40 g) of pistachios a day for 3 months showed improvements in markers of endothelial function and vascular stiffness. Proper blood flow is important for many bodily functions, including erectile function. In a 2019 study, regular consumption of nuts, including pistachios, was associated with improvements in sexual desire and orgasmic function in males.
Despite having a higher carb content than most nuts, pistachios have a low glycemic index. This means they don’t cause large blood sugar spikes. Research suggests that eating pistachios may help promote blood sugar regulation. A 2020 review of six studies concluded that pistachios could significantly reduce fasting blood sugar and improve insulin resistance in people with type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, or metabolic syndrome. A 2024 study also found that eating 57 g of pistachios after dinner may be a good nighttime snack for people with prediabetes. Eating pistachios between dinner and bedtime had similar effects on glycemic, lipid, and blood glucose levels as traditional care. Pistachio nuts are also rich in antioxidants, carotenoids, and phenolic compounds, all of which are beneficial for blood sugar regulation.
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