Nuts are notoriously bursting with good-for-you fat and protein… but they also have a rep for being a bit calorie-dense. Until now. Research has found that nuts (particularly almonds and cashews) have a lot fewer calories than everyone previously thought. (Go on…)
Yup, a study published in 2012 in the found that almonds have 20 percent fewer calories than everyone thought. Researchers specifically found that a 28g of almonds has 129 calories—a pretty big change from the 160 that they were believed to contain before. More research conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2016 backed that up, and they updated info on their database in 2017.
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And in 2018, a study published in the journal found that cashews have up to 16 percent fewer calories than everyone thought before. At the time, everyone thought a 28g serving of cashews was 163 calories, when it was actually 137 calories. Mind=blown.
Okay, but this happened a few years ago… why does it matter now? Well, despite these findings, not all companies have scrambled to change their nutrition labels. So it’s good to know.
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But let’s rewind for a second: Why the change in almonds and cashews? The difference in the calorie counts is because research found your body doesn’t actually break down and use all of the calories that are in nuts, explains nutrition therapist Alissa Rumsey. “This concept is called bioavailability,” she says. “Basically, just because nutrients are present in a food, that doesn’t automatically mean that the body will readily use them. Therefore fewer calories may actually be absorbed.”
Overall, it’s a good FYI if nuts are a staple part of your diet, but you don’t necessarily need to change anything about your eating habits. “Just because nuts have fewer calories than you might have thought doesn’t mean you need to fill in those calories,” says nutrition and wellness expert Samantha Cassetty. “The truth is, nothing has actually changed in terms of how your body processes nuts, so you don’t need to make any adjustments.”
Source: https://www.womenshealthsa.co.za/food-and-nutrition/feed/
