Are Nuts Fattening?

are nuts fattening

Nuts are a good source of nutrients, but they could be fattening and add inches to your waist.

Keep away from deep-fried nuts as they are high in saturated fat content, not good news for the heart; as saturated fat raises the level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the so-called “bad” cholesterol that is a risk factor for heart disease.

Deep-fried foods are usually also high in trans fat, which is worse than saturated fat. It not only raises ‘bad’ cholesterol but also lowers the “good” cholesterol, which helps to balance the “bad” cholesterol. Plus, nuts loaded with salt could raise blood pressure. The higher the blood pressure, the greater
the strain on the blood vessels and the risk of having problems such as heart attacks and strokes.

My suggestions

One way to include nuts in your diet is to eat a small handful (about 40g) a few times a week before or after meals – as a between-meal snack. Just watch how much you consume because they can be fattening. Too much of a good thing can lead to weight gain.

Most nuts are about 75-90% fat. An exception is a chestnut which contains 5% fat. So a handful of 40g nuts should contain about 230 calories if they are Peanuts, it will be 300 calories if they are Macadamia nuts. Know your nuts before you start tucking in. And make sure that they are roasted and unsalted. OK, if you like your salt, at least make it the ‘lightly salted’ version.

One can go nuts if they really look at the varieties of nuts that are readily available to us … even from our home or office. Just take at this page filled with different types of nuts – raw, cooked, baked, single, mixed at iHerb. If you are not yet a member of iHerb, please use this iHerb reward code to get you the membership privilege at zero cost.