Nuts are healthy, but limit portions to prevent calorie
overload and use them as meal enhancers.
Nuts can seem like forbidden fruit to dieters. A heaping
handful might contain up to 10% of the daily caloric needs for a medium-sized
man. And the generous dusting of salt on packaged snack nuts says
"beware" to anyone trying to control high blood pressure.
But nuts are worth the "risks" if you know how to
eat them. Nuts are a good source of key nutrients, healthy fats, and protein.
They can jazz up salads and side dishes, adding crunchy flavor.
The key is to consume nuts in a way that delivers health
benefits without the weight gain. That means limiting portions and eating nuts
instead of, not in addition to, certain other foods. "Nuts are a great
source of good fats and protein," says Dr. Helen Delichatsios, an
assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. "But they
should not be added onto everything else that you eat."
Nutrients in commonly consumed nuts (1 ounce)
Nut Calories Fat (g) Protein
(g)
Almond 168 15 6.2
Brazil 184 18.6 4
Cashew 161 13 4.3
Hazelnut 182 17.5 4.2
Macadamia 201 21.4 2.2
Pecan 200 20.1 2.6
Pistachio 160 13 6
Walnut 184 18.3 4.3
Health benefits
A one-ounce portion of nuts is roughly a quarter-cup. For
almonds, that's about 18 to 22 individual nuts, packing 168 calories. Nuts are
low in saturated fat, so consuming them instead of animal protein sources can help
to lower your LDL ("bad") cholesterol. They contribute fiber,
potassium, and calcium to your diet.
Although nuts are a healthy protein, you can't simply
substitute nuts for meat, ounce for ounce. If you did, your waistline would pay
a steep price. For example, a lean 4-ounce chicken filet has around 100
calories, but 4 ounces of walnuts contains 740 calories.
However, substituting a 1-ounce portion of nuts for
equivalent small portions of red and processed meat is a good move, according
to major based at the Harvard School of Public Health.
In the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, men who ate
meat-rich diets tended to die younger (mostly from cancer and heart disease).
But for each serving of meat replaced with a serving of nuts, the risk of premature
death dropped 20%, compared with that of men who continued to eat meat.
The message is not that you should ban meat completely from
your diet. Instead, try to favor lean poultry over red meat—especially cured or
smoked meats—and consume moderate amounts of nuts instead of meat a few times a
week.
Nuts to round out meals
But where should you toss those modest handfuls of nuts? Dr.
Delichatsios has a few suggestions.
First, reboot your mental image of nuts as a standalone
snack in a bowl. It's true that a small handful of nuts can kill hunger pangs
between meals, but Dr. Delichatsios suggests you also use nuts to "round
out" the nutritional mix of your meals.
If you are trying to reach or maintain a healthy weight, the
fiber and fats in nuts can allow you to leave your meals with a fuller, more
satisfying feeling.
"If you are trying to lose weight and all you have in
your salad are lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and low-fat dressing, you may be
hungry later," Dr. Delichatsios explains. "Nuts are a good way to
make it more filling; they round out the meal. Otherwise it might not be
calorically dense enough and leave you hungry."
Breakfast is a good time to go nuts. Throw some in your
cereal or yogurt with fruit. At lunch, toss a handful into a meatless salad.
Nuts for dinner?
At dinner, nuts are a nutritious addition to grain-based
side dishes like wild or brown rice and mushrooms. Or you can use them to
create an appealing meatless main dish.
Dr. Delichatsios, in her practice as a primary care physician
at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital, focuses on healthy
eating. One thing she does is get a group of her patients together for
nutrition information sessions and cooking demonstrations.
During the sessions, Dr. Delichatsios explains how to shop
for, prepare, and store the kinds of foods that can have a positive impact on
common health conditions. Nuts are usually on the menu. A typical meal would
consist of some sort of cooked whole grain (such as quinoa or brown rice),
beans, or legumes (chickpeas, lentils). Add to it cut up vegetables, fresh
herbs, olive oil, and vinegar or lemon juice. "Throw in some nuts and you
have a very delicious, appealing, filling, satisfying meal," Dr.
Delichatsios says.
One of the impediments to getting people to eat nuts or
whole grains in healthy meals, Dr. Delichatsios says, is just the lack of
knowledge or experience with preparing them in such a way that anyone would
actually want to eat them. "It requires some teaching and education."
After the healthy meal, though, don't fill the snack bowl
with nuts and head for the TV, Dr. Delichatsios cautions. "You can take in
500 calories without even thinking about it."
Published: November, 2012
Source: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/how-to-eat-nuts-the-healthy-way
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