Just about everyone likes nuts, and there are plenty of seasonal recipes for holiday treats using pecans, almonds, walnuts and pistachios.
In Australia, where Thanksgiving is not generally observed, nuts are a hallmark of Christmas meals and parties, a reflection of country’s British colonial history. Baskets and platters of unshelled walnuts, Brazil nuts and hazelnuts, combine with dishes of salted or spiced almonds, cashews, pistachios, peanuts and macadamia nuts.
Nuts used to be looked down on as a high fat snack, best avoided or only eaten occasionally, but the latest nutritional advice is that nuts are good for the heart.
The November 2009 Mayo Clinic Women’s HealthSource covers why nuts are a good addition to a heart-healthy diet.
Nuts – a Lot of Nutrition in a Small Package
Nuts have been a staple food of humans for millennia, and it’s probably only the in the past century that we’ve learned to view them with suspicion.
Cro Magnon Man (40,000 to 10,000 years ago), is known to have supplemented his meat diet with a range of nuts and seeds, including acorns.
All through the ages in cool climes where there is an autumn harvest, humans have harvested nuts as source of fat, protein and carbohydrates to help them survive the lean time of winter.
Of course, unlike the pilgrim fathers, 21st century humans generally aren’t at risk of dying of starvation through the winter. So while we enjoy our seasonal nut treats, we must treat them with respect, as they pack a lot of nutrition into each tiny package.
Nutritional Value of Nuts
As well as fat, protein and carbohydrate, nuts contain good amounts of iron, calcium, vitamin E, vitamin A, zinc and vitamin B2, omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, 1-arginine and plant sterols.
They have been shown to reduce low-density lipoproteins (LDL cholesterol) levels in the blood, contributing to heart health.
However, the clinic warns to eat nuts sparingly, especially if they are not just provided raw, but are salted, spiced, oiled or cooked with other ingredients to create delicious but high fat and high sugar dishes such as pecan pie.
Nuts – How Much Fat?
Nuts contain 40-60% of their weight as fat. Fortunately for our cardiovascular health, this fat is mostly mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated fat.
According to data from USFDA, Australian macadamia nuts have the highest fat content at 75%. On the other hand, chestnuts contain only 3% fat. Following is a breakdown of the fat content of other nuts:
- hazelnuts: 36%
- cashews: 47%
- sesame seeds: 49%
- peanuts: 49%
- walnuts: 52%
- almonds: 53%
- pine nuts: 54%
- pistachios: 54%
- Brazil nuts: 62%
- pecans: 65%
The USFDA gives a good breakdown of the nutritional value of almonds, which at 53% fat, are about the middle of the range.
Nuts – How Much Protein?
Nuts are also a good source of vegetable protein, useful for people on a vegetarian or low meat diet. Protein content ranges from just 2% in chestnuts to 24.3% in peanuts. The breakdown for protein content of other nuts is as follows:
- almonds: 16.9g
- Brazils: 12g
- cashews: 17.2g
- chestnuts: 2g
- hazelnuts: 7.6g
- macadamia nuts: 7g
- peanuts: 24.3g
- pecans: 9.2g
- pine Nuts: 14g
- pistachios: 19.3g
- walnuts: 10.6g
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Sue Cartledge - I'm a science, health, nutrition and lifestyle journalist, fascinated by the way the physical world operates in all its forms, and how ...
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