Are almonds good for you? Healthy tree nuts like almonds have become a popular healthy treat. Yes, they are rich in fat but it doesn’t make them a health menace. This is because the fat in this is in the form of healthy monounsaturated fatty acids. Almonds are not only rich in healthy fats but also dietary fibre, vitamin E, minerals and a lot of healthy phytonutrients. And this unique composition gives almonds the ability to protect you from modifiable cardiovascular and diabetes risks. These risks include body weight, blood glucose management, inflammation and oxidative stress. So, this article gives you an answer to the question; Are almonds good for you?
How are almonds good for you?
A nutrient-dense food for you
Many world nutrition bodies agree that almonds are one of the healthiest nuts available. According to the American Food and Drug Administration, a serving of this tree nut is equal to 28 g.
So, to answer the question, are almonds good for your health? Let’s start by explaining their nutritional benefits. And also explains how almonds are a good source of nutrients.
Studies show that almonds are excellent sources of several nutrients. This means that they contain more than 20% of your daily needs the nutrients. These include:
- Vitamin E which almonds can provide 36.4% of your daily vitamin E requirements.
- Manganese in which almonds provide 36% of your daily requirements.
They are also good sources of several other nutrients. This means they contain 10-20% of your daily needs for nutrients. The nutrients include the following; the percentage daily is written:
- Magnesium (19.5%)
- Copper (15%)
- Phosphorus (13.4%)
- Fibre (13.2%)
- Riboflavin (13.5%)
- Protein (12.1%)
These lists show that eating almonds helps in getting good nutrient quantities for your body. And this information can help you answer the question; are almonds good for you?
You must also understand other important nutritional factors that come with eating almonds. For example, when you eat almonds you also get a highly digestible protein in your diet. This allows you to easily absorb and utilise this dietary protein. In addition, the proteins from almonds can give you more arginine. And arginine is an amino acid that can give your body several health benefits.
Also, the fats in almonds aren’t largely unsaturated, with the higher proportion being monounsaturated fatty acids. These fatty acids are healthier for your body and heart. In addition to the nutrients, they are also good of other health-promoting compounds.
Almonds love your heart
Almond consumption improves your lipoprotein profile. A good lipoprotein profile helps you in preventing cardiovascular diseases. This is because it lowers the levels of harmful LDL cholesterol in your blood. Eating almonds also helps reduce the total cholesterol levels in your blood.
Almonds are rich in unsaturated fatty acids. These fatty acids are needed for a healthy body. So, these nuts can improve your diet’s healthy fatty acid profile. In one of the many studies supporting the health benefits of almonds, it was observed that eating 28-56g of the nut a day for a month significantly reduced your cardiovascular risks by 7-9%.
A Good protein source
Nowadays, people mainly focus on the healthy fatty acid profile of almonds. However, they, also add proteins to your diet. About 15% of the energy from almonds comes from proteins. International standards show that such a protein source is a healthy protein source.
Also, evidence has shown that diets that replace carbohydrates with protein are beneficial to your heart health.
In addition, almonds also have an abundance of arginine. Arginine is an amino acid that is also a substrate of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is an endothelial muscle relaxant. This means arginine is important for healthier blood vessel function. The amino acid also had cholesterol-lowering effects.
In general, almonds can boost your protein intake.
A rich and healthy source of dietary fibre
How are almonds good for you? Yes! Why? have the highest fibre content among nuts. This makes them a good source of dietary fibre. When you eat this nut you remain satiated for longer. This can generally reduce the number and size of subsequent meals. About 12% of dietary fibre is required per each 28 g serving.
Dietary fibre helps in reducing the transit time of food through the intestines. This reduces the risks of exposure to poisons as well as excess nutrients. In addition, dietary fibre contributes to the reduction of cardiovascular and diabetes risks. It also helps in reducing harmful LDL cholesterol in the body. Dietary fibre also has several other benefits including its use as a prebiotic for gut bacteria.
In other words, almond dietary fibre has positive effects on your gut.
Are almonds good for you in weight management
There has been an increase in the prevalence of overweight and obese cases around the world over the years. This can mainly be attributed to lack of physical activity, unhealthy calorie-rich diets and sedentary lifestyles.
Sometimes healthy calorie-rich foods like almonds can also be problems. That is if they are abused. So, we don’t need almonds in a healthy balanced diet, right?
That is not correct. Almonds can be part of a balanced or healthy diet for weight management. How?
Almonds give you high satiety
Almonds have high satiating properties. This means that including them in your meals keeps you full for longer. They can reduce your meal frequency and size. Also, most of the energy from almonds is fat based.
And research shows that there is modesty malabsorption of fats from almonds in the intestines. This means that your body poorly absorbs almond fats. And these unabsorbed components remain in the stomach adding bulky to the stool.
Also, a moderate-fat diet and low-carb diet containing nuts like almonds can help you with weight management. It is the basis of the common keto weight loss diet. Such a diet has been shown to improve your insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism.
Also, almonds are a rich source of many nutrients and phytonutrients that can contribute to your healthy diet for weight management.
In one 6 month study in adult overweight and obese people, eating a low-calorie diet supplemented with almonds brought about a greater reduction in body weight, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure and body fat than eating a high carbohydrate diet. Also, those eating a low-calorie almond-enriched diet suffered fewer complications associated with the metabolic syndrome. And also, participants eating almonds at least twice a week were 31% less likely to gain weight over 2 years.
In another nurse’s health study, it was shown that eating at least 1 ounce of almonds per week reduces gall stones risks by 25%.
Manage your blood sugar levels with almonds
Impaired control of blood sugar levels, elevated blood sugar levels and insulin resistance or insensitivity, all form the basis of metabolic disorders. These disorders include metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Almonds have a low glycemic index, so they have no negative impact on your blood sugar and insulin levels.
The nutrient composition of almonds and other nuts is high in unsaturated fats and dietary fibre. These nuts also have a low carbohydrate content.
Adding nuts like almonds to refined carbohydrate meals like white bread can boost their glycemic index. This improves the management of post-meal blood glucose levels. It also helps in the reduction of post-meal blood glucose spikes. And therefore reduces risks of diabetes, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular diseases.
Nuts like almonds can also help reduce oxidative stress and inflammation. They have low available carbs, high content of healthy fats, proteins, fibre magnesium and phytonutrients. All this make almonds a healthy food to help in the dietary prevention and management of metabolic disorders.
Almonds are a rich micronutrient source
Almonds are a nutrient-rich food for a healthy diet. This is because they are naturally high in vitamin E, riboflavin and several minerals. These minerals include manganese, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, copper and potassium. Almonds also have a low sodium content which is good for your cardiovascular health. This healthful micronutrient profile can be utilised positively by your body.
Conclusion on “Are almonds good for you?”
Are almonds good for you? Yes, and they can help you improve your health. Eating this tree nut in a balanced diet can give you some health benefits. However, almonds are not for everyone. This is because they can be detrimental and cause serious health problems to those with nuts allergies. And also abusing these nuts as snacks and overeating them can pose a challenge for your weight.