Hello and happy Father’s Day to all the papas!
It was a long and wonderful day for me, but I still wanted to fit in a quick TIP for today: Don’t go ‘nuts’ on nuts! Let me explain a bit…
Nuts often make a great snack or complement a meal. They’re very portable and quite delicious. They are high in excellent fats, typically contain protein and fiber, are high is some B-complex vitamins, vitamin E as well as many minerals. They also contain very little carbohydrate, yet another good selling point. But not all nuts were created equal; peanuts, for example (which are technically a seed), are quite high in Omega-6 fats (which we already get too much of, and polyunsaturated fats in general become toxic when we eat too much of them) and contain the most aflatoxins (a toxic mold which is a liver carcinogen in high doses and is associated with stunted growth in children) – aside form also being one of the most highly sprayed with pesticides. Unfortunately, it is also so darn yummy that it’s very easy to go overboard with it. So take it easy on the PB!
When not buying nuts in bulk, be sure to check the ingredients! Many packaged brands of nuts are roasted in cheap vegetable oils (deep fried, in reality), which are not good for your health or your pocket! Think about it, when you buy something by weight, the last thing you want is for it to be weighed down by all the cheap oil it has absorbed. It’s the biggest rip-off! Buying raw is always best, because the nuts are not damaged by the oxidation process. And there should be only a single ingredient – what the stuff actually consists of! Dry roasted are the most common to find and would come in as second best, but buying them organic is a good recommendation as well. Basically avoid anything that has been irradiated, pasteurized or coated in sugar.
Another important thing to note is that many people have various degrees of digestive issues when eating nuts. This is sort of normal due to their high amount of phytic acid (a.k.a. phytate, a toxin and ‘anti-nutrient’ which humans can’t digest – also found in grains and legumes). Interestingly, soaking and rinsing raw nuts, or buying dry-roasted, helps reduce the phytate content.
To conclude, some of the healthiest nuts (and nut butters) to consume are macadamia, almonds, walnuts, pecans, brazil nuts, hazelnuts and filberts. But remember not to go ‘nuts’ on them, too much of a good thing can become a bad thing!
So how much is enough? About an ounce, or a small handful a day. Enjoy in moderation!
Courage, cheerfulness, and a desire to work depends mostly on good nutrition.
–Jacob Moleschott (Dutch physiologist and writer on dietetics)