If you eat nuts every day, make sure you’re getting all the benefits without the pitfalls
Nuts are super-duper healthy and we recommend them regularly – they’re a perfect snack, here’s why:
1. Keep you fuller for longer – thanks to the protein, fat and fibre content, nuts release their energy slowly in your body. They can literally keep you going for hours!
2. Balance your blood sugar levels – because nuts are a whole food, they help you avoid the big surges and dips in sugar levels that more carby snacks (like crackers, toast, bananas, etc.) create.
3. Nutritional powerhouses – as well as providing lots of energy, they are also very high in an array of vitamins and minerals, like Vitamin E, zinc, magnesium, iron and copper to nourish every cell in your body.
BUT you can get too much of a good thing, and you can over-do it even with nuts!
Get around these potential pitfalls to reap all the health benefits of nuts in your diet with no downside.
4. Phytates – stop blocking my minerals!
Phytates or phytic acid are nutrient blockers (anti-nutrients) that occur naturally in a lot of foods, particularly legumes, soy, and nuts. You can reduce them easily by soaking your nuts for a few hours.
Cover the nuts in a bowl of cold, filtered/bottled water, then rinse, pat dry and enjoy. If you have a dehydrator (and the time) you can then activate your nuts by laying them on a tray and drying out on a low heat for 12 hrs.
* Tip: pistachios, macadamias and chestnuts are all lower in phytates, which means they don’t need to be soaked.
5. When good fats go bad
Have you ever bitten into a nut and experienced a really nasty, bitter taste? This is what happens when fats in the nut go rancid as a result of oxidation. Once shelled, nuts are exposed to air, so if they’re not stored correctly, they could go rancid and actually do more harm than good.
* Tip: keep shelled nuts in the fridge or freezer.
* Tip: take your Organic Burst Acai Berry at the same time as eating nuts to get the benefits from its protective polyphenols and Vitamin E.
6. Watch your portion size
Nuts are only fattening when you can’t control your portions, so remember they’re not the basis of a meal, they’re better as a snack or addition to the main event.
Try sprinkling nuts on a salad, add a spoonful of pesto to your zoodles (courgette noodles), and portion out a big bag of nuts into individual tubs so you don’t end up eating them all in one go!
* Tip: buy nuts in their shells, so you have to work to get at them. This slows you down and you end up eating less!
*Bonus: buying nuts in their shells also keeps them fresher, so they don’t become rancid!
There are no bad nuts, but here are a few superstars to get you started!
- Learn the amazing benefits of eating nuts
- Find out ways to make nuts even better for you
- How to avoid side-effects from nuts
- Try these clever ways to eat nuts sensibly
Nuts are super-duper healthy and we recommend them regularly – they’re a perfect snack, here’s why:
1. Keep you fuller for longer – thanks to the protein, fat and fibre content, nuts release their energy slowly in your body. They can literally keep you going for hours!
2. Balance your blood sugar levels – because nuts are a whole food, they help you avoid the big surges and dips in sugar levels that more carby snacks (like crackers, toast, bananas, etc.) create.
3. Nutritional powerhouses – as well as providing lots of energy, they are also very high in an array of vitamins and minerals, like Vitamin E, zinc, magnesium, iron and copper to nourish every cell in your body.
BUT you can get too much of a good thing, and you can over-do it even with nuts!
Get around these potential pitfalls to reap all the health benefits of nuts in your diet with no downside.
4. Phytates – stop blocking my minerals!
Phytates or phytic acid are nutrient blockers (anti-nutrients) that occur naturally in a lot of foods, particularly legumes, soy, and nuts. You can reduce them easily by soaking your nuts for a few hours.
Cover the nuts in a bowl of cold, filtered/bottled water, then rinse, pat dry and enjoy. If you have a dehydrator (and the time) you can then activate your nuts by laying them on a tray and drying out on a low heat for 12 hrs.
* Tip: pistachios, macadamias and chestnuts are all lower in phytates, which means they don’t need to be soaked.
5. When good fats go bad
Have you ever bitten into a nut and experienced a really nasty, bitter taste? This is what happens when fats in the nut go rancid as a result of oxidation. Once shelled, nuts are exposed to air, so if they’re not stored correctly, they could go rancid and actually do more harm than good.
* Tip: keep shelled nuts in the fridge or freezer.
* Tip: take your Organic Burst Acai Berry at the same time as eating nuts to get the benefits from its protective polyphenols and Vitamin E.
6. Watch your portion size
Nuts are only fattening when you can’t control your portions, so remember they’re not the basis of a meal, they’re better as a snack or addition to the main event.
Try sprinkling nuts on a salad, add a spoonful of pesto to your zoodles (courgette noodles), and portion out a big bag of nuts into individual tubs so you don’t end up eating them all in one go!
* Tip: buy nuts in their shells, so you have to work to get at them. This slows you down and you end up eating less!
*Bonus: buying nuts in their shells also keeps them fresher, so they don’t become rancid!
There are no bad nuts, but here are a few superstars to get you started!
| Best For | What | Why |
| Healthy nails | Brazils | Packed with selenium |
| Gorgeous skin | Almonds | High levels of Vitamin E |
| A sweet tooth | Cashews | Natural sweetness makes them a great ingredient in baking |
| Feeling Christmassy | Chestnuts | Roast by the fire! |
| Blood pressure | Walnuts | They keep your arteries flexible |
| Losing weight | Pistachios (in shells) | You eat them more slowly and feel fuller |
By Organic Burst Nutritionist Claire Marlow
Claire Marlow BA (Hons), DipIONFdSc, is a nutritionist at Organic Burst. Her interest is in restoring one’s control of their state of health, believing that there are too many people, especially in big cities today, ‘surviving’ rather than ‘living’. Claire has been featured in many publications such as Marie Claire, Women’s Fitness, Top Sante, Now, Natural Health, Daily Express and more.
Claire Marlow BA (Hons), DipIONFdSc, is a nutritionist at Organic Burst. Her interest is in restoring one’s control of their state of health, believing that there are too many people, especially in big cities today, ‘surviving’ rather than ‘living’. Claire has been featured in many publications such as Marie Claire, Women’s Fitness, Top Sante, Now, Natural Health, Daily Express and more.
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