Nuts!

I was having a hard time trying to think up what I was going to blog about this week and then I serendipitously got a text from my mother and it all just came together! Nuts! To be fair, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and the stuff my brothers and I did growing up was enough to drive anyone crazy. Not sure about you all, but we enjoyed playing Smart Mop and pouring all sorts of stuff on the floor to clean up…except for we didn’t have the Smart Mop...so it didn’t work out so well.

Anyways, I thought I would take this week’s blog to capitalize on this thought and blog about nuts.

I am going to go out on a limb here and assume that you all know what a nut is and that you can probably name a few of them off the top off your head. What most people probably don’t know is some of the health benefits of nuts, so I will help you out.

What’s so special about nuts?

As a vegetarian one of the questions that I get without fail, is how I get enough protein. Well it just so turns out that nuts are a great source of protein! In addition, depending on the nut, they are good sources of certain micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). For example, Brazil nuts contain an entire day’s worth of selenium in just one nut. Since there are a ton of different types of nuts, I am just going to leave this little infographic here…

One of the other points of interest with nuts, is that they do contain fat...

Now before you swear off nuts just because they contain fat, the type of fat they contain is a good type of fat. Some nuts, such as almonds and walnuts, are actually even a good source of omega-3s (which yes, is a good fat).

Wait…are they going to make me fat?!?

No. Eating too many calories and not exercising makes you fat.  Yes, you could gain weight by eat 10,000 calories a day of nuts, but you could also do so by eating 10,000 calories a day of carrots (unless you are an ultra-marathon runner).  If you want more info on this, check out this previous blog post of mine on how eating fat does not make you fat. 

What about flavored nuts?

They can be delicious, but watch out for high amounts of sodium and added sugar.

How can I incorporate them into my diet?

Now, I am not really the type to wake up early to allow myself time to sit and eat breakfast in my house, so I usually end up grabbing something to eat in the car. That being said, I usually keep a bag/huge container of trail mix in my car, which is chock full of nuts.  Other ways include adding them to cereal, yogurt, salads, pasta dishes, Asian dishes, etc. Yes, you could put them in desserts, such as cookies, to make them a little bit healthier, but at the end of the day a cookie is still a cookie.  

Breaking it down

Nuts are healthy. They are a good source of protein and other vitamins and minerals. They do contain fat (the good fat)...

so don’t eat a whole five pound bag in one sitting. Well I am off to think up new ways to irritate my mother. Until next time!

Keep it Fresh,

Keep it Green,

Beth