Are Nuts Good For You Or Not?

Nuts often get lumped into the “do not eat” category. Before doing that, consider the possibility that nuts can be an incredible food to incorporate into your diet. BUT WAIT! Are nuts good for you or not?

Tara’s Tuesday Tips:

Are Nuts Good For You Or Not?

Full of protein + fiber + healthy fats, nuts are a total nutritional powerhouse.

Should You Be Eating Nuts? A round of fact or fiction to help us figure it out.

BUT …. They Are High In Calories,

Aren’t They?

FACT.

Nuts are high in calories AND fat.

BUT WAIT! While they are high in calories + fat, we don’t absorb all of their calories. 20% of the calories from the nuts we eat are not used by our bodies. So, if a handful of walnuts is labeled as 185 calories, our bodies only absorb about 150 of those calories.

The nutrition-science-nerd word for this is bioavailability.

Their bioavailability is affected by its fiber content, whether they are roasted or ground into butter or even how well we chew them.

Eating Nuts Will Make You Gain Weight?

FICTION!

Simply put, no matter how well we chew, some of their calories get trapped in the indigestible cell wall of fiber. This explains why nuts are calorie dense but don’t make you gain weight. Unlike calorie dense foods like meats or cheese or processed foods that give you the gift of absorbing all of the calories in them (and often the subsequent weight gain).

Why? Meat, cheese, and processed foods don’t have fibrous cell walls. No wall of fiber makes these foods easy to break down, easy to absorb.

According to Dr. Michael Gregor (How Not To Diet), “It’s not what you eat, its what you absorb”. Now that’s food for thought …

Nut Butters Better Than Nuts?

FICTION!

If you were to eat the same serving size of nuts vs nut butter, you will absorb more fat by eating the butter version. Sorry. I know, I love peanut butter just as much as the next girl, but the truth is the truth. Small bits of oils get trapped in the nuts and come out the other end. So, less calories and fat actually make it to our bloodstreams when we eat nuts in their whole form. Nut butters make fat and calories more readily available to our bodies for absorption. When you can, choose whole nuts instead of nut butters.

Eat Nuts, Live Longer?

FACT!

Yes! Eating just a handful of nuts each day reduces our risk of dying from heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes! One handful every day? And I might live longer?!? That’s an easy one for me! A 2017 editorial in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology clearly explains it for us. )

Go Nuts Over Brazil Nuts?

FACT!

A study out of Brazil (yes, Brazil), found that people who ate one single serving (4 Brazil nuts) had improvement in their LDL cholesterol levels within 9 hours of eating the Brazil nuts! They continued to check their cholesterol levels and after one month of eating the same single daily serving of Brazil nuts, and the participants’ LDL cholesterol levels stayed down! I linked the article here if you are curious.

If that isn’t enough, Brazil nuts are very high in selenium. One Brazil nut gives us 175% of the recommended daily intake. Why is this awesome? Selenium is a secret weapon for our immune system, boosting our immunity with each Brazil nut we eat!

Walnuts Are The Best Nut To Eat If You Are Plant-Based?

FACT!

If you eat an only plant-based diet, that diet should absolutely include walnuts.

Why? Walnuts are one of the only ways to get pure, plant-based ALA (alpha-linolenic acid). ALA is a plant-based omega-3 fatty acid. Walnuts are also super high in antioxidants which are necessary to help us fight off heart disease. And lastly, fatty acids in walnuts are prebiotics making them great for our gut health. Check out this Harvard School of Public Health study if you want to learn more: https://www.jacc.org/doi/full/10.1016/j.jacc.2017.09.035.

Eating Nuts Suppresses Our Appetites

FACT!

There are a lot of factors that go into why nuts suppress our appetites. Fiber, protein, and good fats are the main reasons. People that include nuts in their daily eating typically take in less calories overall. Lots of studies have tried to figure out why. One theory is that nuts are very satisfying and don’t leave us hungry in a little while, like some other foods do. Another theory is that the oils in nuts naturally give us a sense of satiety. The high fiber content has a lot to do with the appetite suppression as well.

Proceed With Caution

FACT.

Read your labels. Raw nuts are best. Raw + unroasted + unsalted. If you buy roasted nuts, you are welcoming in unnecessary oils, salt, chemicals, and sometimes sugars. Be careful with this. I exclusively buy organic, raw, unsalted, unroasted and roast them myself without any oil + they are delicious! Best of all? I know exactly what is in them.

Portion Control. This is tough, I know. BUT calories do count. You can overdo it here really easily. Measure your serving size by counting them out or using a measuring cup or eat just a handful. If you have certain ones that you cannot exercise portion control with, don’t buy them! There are so many other nuts to choose from with great nutritional profiles. Don’t set yourself up for failure.

Allergies. If you have a true allergy, be careful + read labels. Nut butters and flours sneak their way into lots of plant-based products. There is lots of cross-contamination with nut products, be careful.

Hope this helps you stick to the facts + stay healthy!