Nuts (including almonds, cashews, chestnuts, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts) are great for your health and can be helpful in your quest to lose weight.
Nuts keep you full for longer
Eating foods that keep you full for longer is important in any weight loss program. Nuts are generally high in protein with almonds being the highest coming in at 20% protein. This high level of protein together with their natural fibre increases your satiety allowing you to eat less food overall. That equals more effective weight loss.
Nuts cost more calories to digest
As with other protein sources, it requires more energy to metabolise nuts, i.e. your metabolic rate will increase in order to digest and absorb the nuts. This may be up to 10% of the calorie content of the nuts may be used just in the digestion and absorption process.
With the combination of the satiety effects of nuts together with the cost of metabolism, nuts are a great nutritional option, whether you want to lose weight or eat healthfully.
At the end of the day, it does come down to energy in versus energy out, so you can’t just add copious amount of nuts to your diet and expect to lose weight. So substitute nuts into your diet and take care with your overall calorie intake.
I recommend a handful (30 grams) of nuts daily and are a far better option than many snack bars or other snack options. Mid-afternoon is often the time when you have the urge to eat something that you shouldn’t, so, give nuts a go.
To get further information on nuts including recipes and nutritional information, go to – https://www.nutsforlife.com.au/