Eat a Handful of Nuts Per Day
Nuts are an in food! A handful a day may help you live longer, doctors say according to NBC news. The story went on to say people who eat nuts every day were 20 percent less likely to die from heart disease, cancer and other causes over 30 years. And that the FDA concluded eating 1.5 ounces per day (43 g) may reduce the risk for heart disease. Seems pretty compelling. The article used for the news story was printed in the New England Journal of Medicine. But really? Eat a handful of nuts per day?
Nutrition experts recommend everyone’s diet should include nuts and seeds. In Italy, a basket of unshelled nuts is served after the main course.
The big question is how much nuts should you eat since nuts are high in fat which makes them high in calories. They are high in “good fat,” but still fat. One ounce of nuts has about 160 calories the same number of calories as a regular soda. Nuts are healthier than soft drinks, but calories are calories especially when you want to lose or maintain your weight.
Handful is a meaningless unit of measure like applying tons to rain, mail and fans. If you can’t measure, it but it is a lot, it must be tons.
My hand shown below is relatively small. So I wondered how many nuts I could hold in the palm of my hand.
Hand Full of Mixed Nuts
The results was about 2.5 ounces (75 g) of mixed nuts. I could easily have increased it to 3 ounces with careful balancing. If I ate a hand full of nuts, they would provide 400-480 calories. That’s 20 to 24 percent of the calories for a 2,000 calories diet making a handful of nuts a high calorie snack or treat. A banana or apple has about 100 calories.
By comparison, 1-ounce (28 g) has 160 calories. One ounce may not seem like much but it saves 240-280 calories.
1-Ounce (28 g) Mixed Nuts
Trying to lose or maintain weight on a healthy diet and living a healthy lifestyle is difficult enough without confusing and conflicting information. The media is full of so called experts who seem clueless about what they are recommending. It is as if they are just reading what someone cope editor handed them. Included on NBC’s website for this news article was the following by their Health and Diet Editor:
“Eating nuts and gaining weight don’t always go together. It’s a matter of portion control and moderation,” said NBC News Health and Diet Editor Madelyn Fernstrom.
“As a good source of protein, heart-healthy fat, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and several antioxidants nuts are one of nature’s nutrient-rich foods,” Fernstrom said. “But stick to a handful. More than that daily might pack on the pounds.”
You can pack on pounds eating a handful of nuts if you are not aware of the number of calories you’re getting eating nuts in addition to other foods in your daily diet.
My advise:
- If you like nuts, eat an ounce or two a day.
- Be aware of how many calories per day you eat including nuts.
- Peanuts are legumes not nuts. Peanuts grown underground. Nuts grown on trees.