While they have a bad reputation for being high in calories, these powerful nutritional sources could be dieters best friends, as long as you don't overdo it. Nuts are often grouped into the “bad food” category, especially for those who are worried about weight gain. Since nuts are high in fat and calorie-dense, it makes sense. After all, adding nuts to your diet when you're trying to lose weight, isn't that counterproductive? The simple answer is no, nuts actually help you lose weight or maintain a healthy weight, says Richard D.
Mattes, M, P, H. So, while eating nuts won't help you lose weight, they add protein, fiber, nutrients, and satiating healthy fats to your diet, which is helpful if you're trying to restrict your intake throughout the day. But numbers don't always tell the full story, as is the case here. That's because no matter which nut you choose, each one has unique properties that help negate these effects.
For starters, you don't absorb all the energy (also known as calories) from walnuts. Unused calories come out through the stool. Take a look at data from the Agricultural Research Service in which researchers examined how many of the calories in walnuts, almonds and pistachios the body uses compared to how much these nuts actually contain. Overall, the body consumed fewer calories than were actually in nuts.
For pistachios, calorie intake was 22.6 calories per gram versus 23.7 calories per gram, the generally accepted amount of calories in pistachios. So in that ounce of pistachios, your body would only consume 153.8 of the 161.9 calories available. And in an ounce of walnuts, 146 of the 185 calories were available to the body, while in almonds, the difference was 129 calories versus approximately 170 calories. What else should you love about walnuts? “Although this is less established, nuts can increase energy expenditure at rest, which would also help offset calories,” Mattes says.
All of this means that nuts can be a dieter's best friend, and there are numerous studies that show that nuts can help prevent weight gain. For example, according to a study by BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health, increasing consumption of nuts in one serving per day was significantly associated with lower weight gain and lower risk of obesity over a four-year period, even more so when study participants switched a serving of any type of nut for less healthy foods such as chips, desserts, red or processed meat or chips. Please note that this does not apply to nut butter. In other words, your body will absorb all the calories from that nut butter.
Weight Management Isn't the Only Reason Nuts Deserve a Place in Your Plant-Based Diet. Li, MD. That can lower blood cholesterol and has even been shown to activate fat burning processes in the body. Eating nuts is a great way to increase your intake of antioxidants.
Of the trees, walnuts, pecans and chestnuts have the highest antioxidant content. Walnuts contain more than 20 mmol of antioxidants per 100 g, mainly in walnut films, study on health benefits of nuts explains. Antioxidants protect body cells from damage caused by free radicals, which cause oxidative stress. The key to eating nuts is to practice moderation.
They may be good for you, but those calories and fats can build up. Usually, around an ounce or one and a half ounces a day is the sweet spot, Mattes says. Just make sure you choose plain walnuts. Many are fried or sugar-coated, or contain added preservatives.
For more information about nuts, see the 11 nuts that contain the most protein. Despite being high in fat and calories, nuts are incredibly healthy. Eating too much of anything can make you fat, including nuts. While it's true that most high-calorie diet plans include nuts for weight gain, that doesn't mean they can't be a healthy addition to any diet plan, regardless of your weight goals.
Nuts can be calorie-dense, but they also contain a lot of health-supporting nutrients, and eating nuts can even help you lose weight. Walnuts, which include ground nuts such as peanuts and tree nuts such as almonds, pistachios, walnuts, pecans and cashews, among others, do provide calories. One ounce of nuts equals 23 almonds, 6 Brazil nuts, 18 cashews, 19 pecan halves, 11 macadamia nuts, 14 walnut halves, 49 pistachios or 35 peanuts. For example, almonds and pistachios have the highest amount of calcium, pecans are the richest in antioxidants, walnuts have the highest amount of omega-3 fats, and cashews have the highest iron content.
The studies included many types of nuts (almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts, and peanuts). . .
