Nuts are tremendous little snacks packed with protein, heart-healthy fats, vitamins and minerals, but even a good nut can quickly become bad for your diet if not eaten in moderation or topped with sugars and salts.
Nuts in their most nutritious form should be eaten raw or dry roasted. Nuts are by nature high in fat and calories, but also an excellent source of nutrition. Let’s explore the best nuts for your diet and which nuts to avoid.
Almonds, cashews and pistachios are the best nuts to choose if you are counting calories. One serving of 23 almonds is packed with 6 grams of protein, 14 grams of fat and 160 calories. Although the fat content may scare you away, about two-thirds of the fat is heart-healthy, monounsaturated fat. Almonds are higher than any other tree nut in fiber, calcium, Vitamin E, riboflavin and niacin and are the most recommended for disease prevention.
One ounce of cashews (16-18 nuts) contain 157 calories, 5 grams of protein and 13 grams of fat but are much lower in fiber. Pistachios (49 nuts) contain 6 grams of protein and 13 grams of fat and 156 calories. Pistachios are one of the highest B6 vitamin foods which is important for blood sugar regulation.
Ounce for ounce, if you are watching your diet, avoid macadamia nuts and pecans. Both of these nuts have the lowest amount of protein (less than 3 grams) and the highest amount of calories. Macadamia nuts have 200 calories and 20 grams of fat for only 10 nuts. Now that’s nuts!
Worse than any nut? Eating nuts from a tub or grabbing handfuls of nuts for a light snack. You could be eating hundreds of calories, easily – so pay attention to the serving amounts and opt for snack sized packaging to ensure your healthy snack doesn’t quickly become your unhealthy habit.
