Do you have a love-hate relationship with nuts? Do you keep a jar of cashews in the kitchen, but don’t take the lid off, as the thought that they will add to your weight comes to mind. Although nuts are healthy, often the over-ruling perception is that they are fattening…….
While nuts are indeed a calorie-dense food, the good news is nut-eaters are not fatter than people who avoid nuts. That’s because nuts are satiating; that is, they make you feel full. A small handful of nuts (150 to 200 calories) for an afternoon snack often ends up being lower in calories than the 100-calorie pack of crackers that leads to another and yet another 100-calorie pack because you still feel hungry. Snacks like crackers and rice cakes fail to keep you satiated because they lack fiber, protein, and fat – all the things that nuts have to offer.
When the afternoon munchies strike, I invite you to go nuts (in moderation) and observe the benefits of eating a handful of nuts. You may well discover you are less hungry for a longer period of time. While a few rice cakes may fill you for half an hour, a few nuts might do so for 2.5 hours (3).
If you are afraid the ‘handful’ will turn into a ‘jarful’, remember that the best way to take the power away from a ‘trouble food’ is to eat it more often. That is, if you end up overeating nuts (or any food, for that matter), you may think, ‘I just blew my diet by eating some almonds, so I might as well eat the whole jar to get rid of them. Then, I can get back on my diet.’ Or, if you are at a social event and end up eating too many peanuts, you might think, ‘This is my last chance to eat peanuts before I go back on my diet. I’d better eat them all now because I shouldn’t eat them ever again.’
The solution to over-eating nuts is to change your relationship with them and acknowledge you like them. Tell yourself, ‘I enjoy nuts so much, I’m going to eat them more often at every meal and snack!’ That way, you eliminate your fear of being denied this favorite food. You won’t have to eat the whole jar, because another jar will be waiting in the pantry. While this might sound scary to overeaters, the reality is, after three days of eating nuts at every meal and snack, it’ll be likely that you’ll cut back to enjoying nuts once or twice a day (or week) and no longer will they have any power over you.
Which nuts are best?
Now that I have convinced you to include nuts in your fitness/sports snacks (and meals), you might be wondering ‘What is the best kind of nut to eat?’ That’s like asking, ‘What are the best fruits?’ The answer is: each type of nut offers its own special health benefits. Almonds have a little more fibre than cashews; walnuts have a little more polyunsaturated fat than hazelnuts; peanuts have a little more vitamin E than walnuts—but no one nut is distinctly superior to another one. So, rather than get caught up in trying to choose the ‘best’ nut, simply buy a variety for a variety of nutrients, flavours, and health-protective attributes.
Enjoy:
• slivered almonds on your morning cereal
• a peanut butter and banana sandwich at lunch
(Now doesn’t that sound more substantial than yet-another turkey sandwich? Don’t panic about the calories! Rather, notice how peanut butter will keep you feeling full, so you don’t end up eating abundant calories of sweets later in the afternoon.)
• trail mix with cashews and dried fruit in the afternoon
• walnuts in your dinner salad
What’s so healthy about nuts for fitness?
Nuts offer far more than just calories. They are filled with hard-to-get nutrients that can easily get processed out of refined foods. By the end of the day, nut eaters tend to have a diet with overall higher nutrient quality (4). Nuts offer magnesium, niacin, vitamin E, copper, and manganese, as well as other phytochemicals that are health protective, like resveratrol (which reduces heart disease). All of this means nuts have a powerful impact on your health.
Nuts protect against the diseases of aging. That is, people who eat nuts or peanut butter five or more times a week reduce their risk of heart disease and diabetes by more than 20%. That’s impressive. Incorporating some nuts along with your rice cake snack offers both health and weight-management advantages.
If you are enjoying nuts as a recovery food after a hard workout, be sure to eat some carbs along with the nuts. While the protein and (healthful) fat in nuts abates hunger and helps build muscles, only carbs (re)fuel your muscles. Some carb-protein nut combinations include: peanut butter + banana; nuts + dried fruit; almonds + (packet of instant) oatmeal.
Nuts offer only a little protein – about 8 grams in two tablespoons of peanut butter (the amount in a typical sandwich). This is not much, considering the protein needs of most active women are 60 to 90 grams, and active men may need 80 to 120 grams. Hence, vegetarian athletes need to really eat a lot of nuts and peanut butter if this is their main source of protein!
Easier yet, you can boost your protein levels by adding this childhood memory back into your daily diet – go for a glass of milk along with the peanut butter sandwich!
Nuts are not a problem, enjoy them in moderate portions, as an integral part of your meals and snacks.
Popularity: 2% [?]
