Nuts have numerous health benefits and are a powerful and complex food rich in unsaturated fats. High in fat, yes, but only in unsaturated fats which are considered essential to prevent chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer.
Nutty Facts
It cannot be stated too often the beneficial role nuts can play in our daily diets. Too many people still view even the occasional consumption of nuts as a guilty pleasure instead of as one of nature's superfoods which should be a part of every day eating. We cannot read a paper or magazine these days without hearing the latest about fat and the expanding girth of the average North American. Unfortunately, many misconceptions about the supposed "high-fat" content of nuts continue to circulate and cause even more confusion with the average consumer.
Nuts have been consumed for centuries when people by necessity gathered food for survival and long before the beginning of the farming industry. Yet North Americans continue to view nuts with suspicion or, if they do indulge at all, will overdo it with salted or flavoured nuts at holiday events, thereby contributing further to their long held belief that "nuts are fattening." Nuts have numerous health benefits and are a powerful and complex food rich in unsaturated fats. High in fat, yes, but only in unsaturated fats which are considered essential to prevent chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer.
From the total fat content illustrated in the chart shown below, you can see that the levels of undesirable saturated fats in most nuts are extremely low.
Those on a vegetarian or semi-vegetarian diet would do well to increase their consumption of nuts since the decrease in protein that occurs with the lessening of animal foods in the diet can be more than adequately compensated by the excellent quality of the plant protein present in nuts. Plant protein of itself has been shown to lower blood cholesterol, so obviously increasing its presence in the daily diet as you decrease animal proteins is a smart decision for your health.
In addition to grabbing a handful of raw or lightly roasted nuts every day, there are many ways you can increase your consumption of nuts: nut butters, nut milk, nut gravies and sauces, nut burgers and loaves to mention a few. We grind up nuts in the blender and make creamy salad dressings with them, as well as always including nuts in stir fries and rice dishes. Click here for recipes for nut milk and nut butters which I've used for over 20 years and raised a couple of extremely healthy children on!
Comparative Nut Nutrition Chart
Based on a 28-g (1-oz) serving, unsalted.
| Peanuts | Almonds | Pecans | Cashews | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proximates | Units | Dry-roasted | Raw | Raw | Dry-roasted |
| Calories | kcal | 166 | 160 | 190 | 162 |
| Protein | g | 7 | 6 | 3 | 4 |
| Carbohydrates | g | 6 | 6 | 4 | 9.2 |
| Fibre | g | 2 | 3 | 3 | .8 |
| Sugars | g | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Lipids | |||||
| Total Fat | g | 13.5 | 14 | 20 | 12.4 |
| Saturated Fat | g | 1.9 | 1 | 2 | 2.5 |
| Monounsaturated Fat | g | 6.9 | 9 | 11.5 | 7.7 |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | g | 4.4 | 4 | 6.5 | 2.2 |
| Cholesterol | mg | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
