Nuts & Almonds

Tree nuts — almonds, walnuts, cashews and others — concentrate unsaturated fats, protein, fibre and minerals into a small, shelf-stable package. They are also calorie-dense, at roughly 550–650 calories per 100 g.

What published research reports

USDA FoodData Central lists almonds at about 21 g of protein, 12.5 g of fibre and nearly the full daily reference intake of vitamin E per 100 g, along with magnesium and mostly monounsaturated fat. In the PREDIMED randomised trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine, a Mediterranean diet supplemented with 30 g of mixed nuts daily was one of the two intervention arms that lowered the incidence of major cardiovascular events versus the control diet. The FDA permits a qualified health claim linking 1.5 oz of most nuts daily, within a diet low in saturated fat, to reduced heart-disease risk.

References

• US Department of Agriculture. FoodData Central — Almonds. fdc.nal.usda.gov
• Estruch R, et al. Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease with a Mediterranean Diet. N Engl J Med. 2018;378:e34. PubMed