Nuts to you!
The quick answer: Many have overlooked the healthiness of nuts. Make nuts a regular part of your diet; eat a serving most days.
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A charming Victorian farmhouse high in the Rocky Mountains of Utah is just one of the good things my Beautiful Wife brought to our family. (There are also those six slightly-above-average children and a pack of way-above-average grandchildren.) The farmhouse is located in a small town settled mostly by Swiss emigrants in the 1860s. Though the family farms have mostly disappeared, the traditions linger and influence all who come here. I know this; the customs of this town have given me a deeper reverence for the wisdom of tradition. We’ve been graciously welcomed here, considering that we’re from California, probably because a good part of the town is some kind of cousin to the Beautiful Wife.
There’s always some project to do when we come here, like painting. This trip the trim around the 2nd story roof wanted paint so I needed some scaffolding—which brought me to two local men of character, Steve and Gary. Gary has the scaffolding and Steve has a trailer to haul it to the house. I got to know, and respect, them during the restoration of the home. The other day, standing around a pick-up truck, a place where guys here are prone to visit, they began to reminisce about times past.
Their most vivid memories were about harvesting hay—farm boys work a bunch, but being strong enough to heft hay bales seemed to be the work that signaled a boy’s passage to manhood. The conversation turned to the long-ago death of a friend, killed in a farming accident. Gary, who was there, recalled the boy was going to take a certain pretty girl from the next village to see the fireworks that night. There was a moment of silent remembering; working through the genealogy I realized that the boy who died too soon and his lovely date were cousins of my wife.
We returned later for a missing item and found Gary in his garden, his arms full of squash. In the way of those who farm, he insisted I take some zucchini, which led to a story about a visitor to the area. The visitor was impressed that his host never locked his car and even left the keys inside. But on Sunday, when they went to church, the windows were rolled up tight and the doors locked. Later he asked about the need for such security at church. “Oh, you have to,” the host explained, “while you’re in meeting, they’ll slip their extra zucchini into your car!” When we got back to the house I left the zucchini in Steve’s truck but he returned it later with a grin. We had it for dinner, steamed, with a cheese sauce. As I ate, I pondered how people who garden seem extra healthy.
Healthy Nuts (and Seeds)
Now some past posts come together. As we reduce the animal protein in our diet in favor of plant protein (discussed here, but 1/3 animal, 2/3 plant), we also reduce the saturated fats in favor of their less-saturated cousins. I like beef, and pork; now that I’ve figured out that sheep are the last meat to be pasture-fed I’m taking a liking to lamb also. But there’s a new dietary: Less meat but more fish, legumes, and nuts. You can even save a little money, as well as your health. I like the crunchy chew of nuts, it’s probably a guy thing, and am happy to eat less meat in exchange for more nuts.
Many are unaware of the health benefits of nuts so here are a few highlights:
- Nuts are rich in antioxidants (discussed here), including vitamin E and selenium. In the prior post, we talked about the importance of selenium in protecting you from cancer.
- Besides antioxidants, you also get omega-3 fats, which lower LDL (or “bad”) cholesterol. (Foods rich in omega-3 are typically high in protective antioxidants.)
- Studies show the risk of heart disease death is significantly lower (around 40% less, depending on the study) for people who eat a serving of nuts most days.
- Nuts fight inflammation. A 2005 study found those who eat the most nuts to have the lowest level of inflammation markers. For almonds, the anti-inflammatory effect is as strong as the statin drugs, without all the nasty side effects. (Inflammation was discussed here.)
- Nuts are a good source of fiber, and minerals, including potassium and magnesium, important to bone health.
- The risk of type 2 diabetes is reduced through replacing meat with nuts according to recent study discussed in the N.Y. Times. See the article here.
- Nuts are a great non-sugary snack, one that won’t cause you to gain weight. Though dense in calories (and nutrients), studies show a significant advantage in weight loss for nut eaters. (Though the nuts are high in calorie-dense fats, they are also very filling so there’s no calorie penalty.)
- Seeds—like flax, pumpkin, or sunflower seeds—offer the best nutrition value pound-for-pound.
Budget Wisdom
You can save by buying nuts in bulk. The grocery stores offer nuts in small packages (2-1/4 oz.) at high prices. For example, at the local supermarket almonds were $18/lb in the small package (and $9/lb. in the 6 oz. package); pecans were $24.81/lb; walnuts were $16.20. Prices as high as these are offensive. The same nuts can be bought at the health store in any quantity from bulk bins for $3.59 for almonds, and $9.62 for walnuts (pecans weren’t available at the store visited). If you can use a 2- or 3-lb. bag, Costco offers almonds at $3.26/lb; pecans at 7.50/lb; and walnuts at $7.00/lb. For the best value and taste: buy in bulk and refrigerate your nuts in a sealed container.
Do the supermarkets realize how long the train has been gone? The policy of the grocery stores is to seek the best price rather than offer best nutrition. Worse, they add unneeded processing (sugar coated peanuts?). It’s a bankrupt strategy; they are missing the train.
We buy walnuts from a small grower in northern California after the Fall harvest. When I first met him I wanted to buy a bag full of walnuts in the shell and use them through the year as needed. The grower laughed, “You mean, keep them in your garage?” That was what I had planned, actually. He explained that the fats would oxidize and turn rancid during the year; you have to shell the nuts and freeze or refrigerate them (just like fresh-ground wheat). The grower, who also supplies restaurants, had a cold room to protect his nuts. The fresh walnuts I bought had great taste and color (blond, whereas the older, unrefrigerated walnuts in the stores turn a darker brown as they age), and only cost $5/lb. if I shelled them.
I like nuts with dried fruit. Throw in some oats and you have the Swiss breakfast, muesli. Nuts are important to granola also. And the snack plate is a good place to set out your daily serving.
You likely noticed we didn't have a picture for this post. Reason is my talented photographer, who donates her time to the cause, has mentioned the two words I have been fearing: "Maternity leave." So we're going to have to be more creative for a while.
Please comment on how you buy and use nuts, or your favorite nuts.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011 at 8:39PM | by Skip Hellewell | 13 Comments | 5 References | Share Article | Email Article
Reader Comments (13)
Dear Skip,
I like nuts a lot. However, I have two questions for you:
1, Half of my family gets canker sores from eating wrinkled nuts. Wrinkled being pecans, walnuts, etc. Peanuts and almonds seem to have no effect on them. Why is this, and if you just eat one kinds of nuts, i.e. peanuts is that still healthy or does that begin to fall into unhealthy?
2. After getting my first cold sore a year ago I had to figure some things out, like the fact that nuts (which I ate a TON of) were raising my alkaline levels and making me have more cold sore breakouts. What can I do to still eat them and not face these consequences?
Thanks for your wonderful posts, your research and ideas.
~Camaron
Skip: Camaron, nice to hear from you. People are different and there is quite a range of food tolerances, so all need to be moderate. My wife can't eat too many walnuts or pecans either.
There is one caution about nuts—you do get omgea-6 fats; only walnuts have much omega-3. This isn't a problem for most if you're avoiding processed foods and minimizing vegetable oils. The rule to remember is to get plenty of foods rich in omega-3 also, including dark greens. Mike Pollan in his book, "In Defense of Food", suggested the rule: "More leaves than seeds." This assures a good balance of omega-3 to omega-6. Best to you. Skip
We buy in bulk from nuttyguys.com. They often have groupons available or free shipping, etc. I have never found a more inexpensive way to get them, especially raw nuts, which are hard to even find at the grocery store in our part of the country.
We buy our nuts from Costco. Walnuts and Almonds mostly. I keep a container of nuts in my glove box for when I get that hankering for a snack in the car. We also substitute walnuts for pine nuts in our pesto. We love walnuts over cereal, in granola, and we usually add them to our chocolate cookies and brownies. I don't eat many brazilian nuts, your last post made me think maybe I ought to buy a container of mixed nuts from time to time.
Though not a health store, Winco sells all kinds of nuts in bulk (where you can scoop them out of the bin). Prices are similar to Costco/Sam's, but Winco has no membership fee.
I've just been getting raw, sliced almonds, since they are some of the cheapest, and using them in my granola. I'd like to try some walnuts and cashews as well. Those 3 are my absolute favorite nuts.
I buy my nuts from the bulk bins at a local co-op natural grocery store. And store them in plastic bags to take to work or glass jars at home. I'll definitely start to consider the freezer for larger quantities, though.
As I'm in the 8th month of pregnancy and taking an iron supplement, my digestion can get a little, ummm, sluggish. To prevent any ill-effects, I add a handful of walnuts to my daily yogurt, honey and fruit as a mid-day snack. I also eat a handful of almonds with a handful of dried figs as a mid-morning snack. Plus, I drink lots of water.
I love knowing that I'm doing so much good for my entire body as well as setting my baby up for some pretty awesome snacking habits, as well.
I haven't been one to eat a lot of nuts, but this post got me thinking about it. I did buy some brazil nuts after your prior post about that, but I have yet to eat them. After reading this post, I fell asleep (because I am sick today) and kept dreaming about nuts! I am taking this as a sign that I need to incorporate them into my diet. My sister came to visit a couple weeks ago and she made a raw nut granola. It was pretty good. It calls for soaked almonds, but we forgot to soak them the night before. Chop up almonds and another nut (we used hazelnut but I think she prefers walnuts). You can soak oatmeal and add it. Add some sunflower kernels, raisins, chopped dates, or dried cranberries and mix. My sister pours brazil nut milk over it, be we didn't have any so we used raw milk. We added just a touch of vanilla and about a 1/4-1/2 tsp of raw honey and stirred it up. My kids even liked it. It was quick and easy and you definitely get your serving of nuts.
What about nut butters? (the natural ones with just nuts and salt, no sugar) Would this be a good inexpensive way to get nuts in your diet? What about peanuts?
I usually have a handful of raw nuts in my lunch box, so I buy nuts pretty regularly from the supermarket. I hadn't thought about buying them in bulk, but will have a look online to see if there are any sites that will deliver in the UK. As an aside, if you are buying packaged nuts from the supermarket, we've found that you can get the same product in the baking aisle cheaper than you can in the snack aisle.
Personally, I prefer raw nuts. In the past when I've bought roasted and flavoured nuts, I've found that they are very moreish and we get through the bag very quickly, often in one sitting, whereas I'm sated with a small handful of raw nuts. My favourite type of nut keeps changing, probably depending on what specific nutrients my body needs at the time; right now I'm hooked on cashews!
We buy nuts in bulk from Sam's Club. I eat them as a snack like most people eat potato chips. I love walnuts, almonds, and pecans, and eat them cold from the freezer.
I love nuts. Love, love them. I usually buy the large mixed nuts containers at the grocery store. I am a little worried about the salt intake with these nuts. Should I be worried about that? I do like a little salt versus the raw but don't mind if I have to switch to the raw. Thanks for giving the info about refrigerating or freezing them. I didn't even think about that. Love to put nuts on my salads. The salad feels bare if they don't have some nuts on it.
Skip: Lulu, for all who love nuts consider two rules: 1) Buy, and keep, your nuts as fresh as possible. (Walnuts especially need refrigeration and the roasted peanuts will turn rancid.) 2)Set out a serving each day; you don't want to eat any one thing to excess. Thanks for writing, Skip
Cameron, Research the amino acids arginine and lysine. The nuts causing the canker sores contain arginine (so does chocolate, raisins, wheats), while lysine combats and prevents the sores. We try to include foods with lysine in our diet and hold back on the arginine items when a sore is around. This has been much better than any Rx available. Good luck!
This is all most helpful, Thank You Skip. I have recently heard there is a benefit to soaking nuts and wondered what you know about that? How to do it, store them etc.
Skip: Jennifer, I haven't done a decent study of this but I'll try to get back to this in a post. Best, Skip
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