The nut industry is a $3.6 billion business, with more than 2 million tons of nuts harvested in 2009, according to the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center. In 2007, the average American ate 3.6 lbs. of nuts, with the most popular nuts being pecans, walnuts and almonds. When including nuts in your diet, take into account the nutritional information to enhance your overall diet and assist you with weight maintenance.
Health Considerations
Scientific research consistently singles out nuts as being beneficial in the reduction of coronary heart disease. An analysis of different U.S. studies on nut consumption published in the September 2008 issue of the "Journal of Nutrition" reaffirmed that both tree nuts and peanuts lower cholesterol levels and reduce the incidence of coronary heart disease. The pooled analysis found that the participants who ate the most nuts had about 35 percent less risk of developing heart disease. The study indicates that the fatty acids and other nutrients help reduce the risk.
Calories
Nuts are a calorie dense food. Limit your nut consumption to 1 to 2 oz. per day to avoid consuming too large a percentage of your diet from nuts. An ounce of almonds, cashews and pistachios has 160 calories, while walnuts, pine nuts, hazelnuts and Brazil nuts have 190 calories per ounce. Pecans and macadamia nuts have 200 calories in an ounce. The number of nuts in 1 oz. varies from 6 to 8 for the larger Brazil nuts to over 150 tiny pine nuts.
Protein and Fiber
Eating nuts gives you both protein and some dietary fiber. Protein is important for muscle health and the fiber in nuts may help with digestion. Vegetarians can use nuts as an alternative source of protein. Macadamia nuts have the least amount of protein, at 2 g per ounce, and pistachios and almonds have the most at 6 g per ounce. Fiber amounts range between 1 g for pine nuts and cashews to 8 g for pistachios.
Fat Content
Much of the calories in nuts come from fats. Fat has 9 calories per gram. Almonds have 14 g of fat, or 79 percent of their calories from fat, and pecans have 20 g of fat, or 90 percent of their calories from fat. The main fat in nuts is not unhealthy saturated fat, but mainly monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. These healthy fatty acids are the reason nuts are good for your heart and cholesterol levels. Nuts are not devoid of saturated fats, as all nuts have some saturated fats. Almonds have 1 g and Brazil nuts have the most among the nuts, with 5 g of saturated fats per ounce.
Other Nutrients
Nuts give you about 20 percent of your daily magnesium intake and between 4 and 10 percent of your iron requirement, depending on the nut. Phytosterols can help lower your your cholesterol, as verified by a study in the February 2011 edition of "QJM: An International Journal of Medicine." Cashews, pecans, almonds, walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts and macadamia nuts all contain phytosterols. In addition, you will fulfill a portion of your body's requirement for copper, thiamine and manganese by eating nuts on a regular basis. All nuts are cholesterol free.
References
- Agricultural Marketing Resource Center: Nuts
- "Journal of Nutrition"; The Role of Tree Nuts and Peanuts in the Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease: Multiple Potential Mechanisms; Penny M. Kris-Etherton, et al.; September 2008
- International Tree Nut Council: Live Healthy Go Nuts
- "QJM: An International Journal of Medicine; A.K. Gupta, et al.; February 2011
- USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory: Nuts
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