[LifeStyle] Nuts are not fattening: 5 reasons that banish the myth

[#Steeven.™]

The demonization of fats and the perception that a food is healthy based on the calories it provides may explain why they are attributed the ability to gain weight, but science supports their consumption.

No. Nuts are not fattening despite the ill-fame that those who demonize fats, regardless of their type, have earned it. It is true that it is a food rich in polyunsaturated fats, but it is precisely the type of this macronutrient that is suitable for the body.
Perhaps the origin of the false myth about nuts has to do with that conception that fats are harmful regardless of their kind, but also with the concept of calories and that tendency that evaluates whether a food is healthy or not based on its caloric content, an argument that on the other hand comes from pearls to the food industry to sell us low-calorie products that do not have to be exactly beneficial.

 

Debunking myths: 5 reasons to eat nuts:
Thus, not all fats are bad, nor should all foods with a certain caloric content be banished from the diet. Carlos Ríos, a nutritionist who champions the Realfooding movement, breaks a spear in favor of nuts and bases his arguments on scientific evidence since nuts "are associated with a favorable control of body weight through multiple mechanisms" .

*The estimated caloric content of these foods does not match the usable caloric content. The overestimation can be higher than 30% in the case of almonds, 20% walnuts and 5% pistachios. When you look at the kcal that these foods provide you on the label, you are seeing figures that are much higher than what they actually contribute.

*These foods can increase satiety in the short term and positively regulate appetite. At the end of the day you eat less kcal.

*These foods may slightly increase diet-induced thermogenesis. It is the energy expenditure to metabolize them.

*Nuts can positively modulate the microbiota through their richness in fiber, unsaturated fatty acids and polyphenols. This improves long-term satiety pathways.

*They can displace the consumption of ultra-processed foods and thus exert their main beneficial effects for health, saving you the unhealthy and caloric ingredients of sugary and salty snacks.

 

In fact, if you give up nuts, you will be underestimating a food with a high nutritional density that, in addition to badly 'demonized' fats, has a high content of easily absorbed minerals, such as potassium, calcium, phosphorus, iron and magnesium, vitamins, fiber, phytosterols and other phytochemical components. In other words, its consumption is an indicator of a healthy lifestyle, as evidenced by the fact that nuts are considered an essential part of the Mediterranean diet or that the Spanish Heart Foundation includes them among the essential ingredients of a heart-healthy diet.

 

Recommended amount of nuts
With regard to the recommended amount of nuts that can be eaten per day, a priori the principle of moderation should prevail and bet on the consumption of about 25 or 30 grams per day and preferably raw, that is, without having been subjected to industrial transformation that may have added salt to the equation or reduced its nutritional contribution.