Eating nuts incorrectly can lead to trouble! Check out 8 common misconceptions

Nuts and roasted seeds are an essential snack for almost every household and a source of nutritional supplements in the diet. Studies in recent years have found that eating nuts and oil seeds properly has many health benefits.

For example, it can lower blood lipids, reduce the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, reduce the risk of diabetes, and reduce postprandial blood sugar response [1]. Replacing some meat foods with nuts and oilseeds can also help reduce all-cause mortality [2].

However, for nuts and oilseed foods, whether to eat them, what to eat, and how much to eat require consideration from multiple aspects. Have you noticed these common problems when eating nuts and oilseeds?

Problem 1: Eating too much. Consequence: Getting fat.

Although some studies say that eating nuts will not make you fat, this conclusion is largely based on replacing snacks such as biscuits, cookies, and potato chips with nuts. After all, nuts and oilseeds are high in calories. If they affect the amount of food eaten at regular meals, the nutrition will be unbalanced. If they do not affect the amount of food eaten at regular meals, and you eat more, the calories will be too high, and if they cannot be consumed, you will gain weight, which is not good for preventing high blood lipids and fatty liver.

Problem 2: Eating inconsistently. Consequence: No health benefits.

Eating a little bit every day, in a steady stream, is better for health than eating a lot sometimes and not eating at all sometimes. Some intervention studies give subjects 90 grams or even more at a time, but I personally don't think that is beneficial. Epidemiological studies suggest that 50 to 70 grams per week can produce health effects, which averages out to 10 grams per day. If cooking oil is used less, it's okay to eat a little more, but an average of 20 to 30 grams is enough (weight without shells).

Problem 3: The product is not fresh. Consequence: Promotes oxidative aging.

Many nuts and oil seeds sold as snacks are not fresh enough. It is common for fat to oxidize and produce a stale taste after being left for two or three months after purchase. It is better to buy small amounts frequently, buy products that are vacuum-packed or nitrogen-filled, or buy them directly without shelling. Avoid buying large quantities of crushed and powdered products.

Problem 4: Improper cooking. Consequences: Damage to the mucous membrane and digestive tract.

Nuts and oil seeds are often deep-fried when used in cooking. When made into snacks, they are usually added with salt and sugar. In comparison, if you add some spices and cook them until soft, or just chop them up and mix them with cold dishes, or eat them with steamed bread, they are delicious and healthier. If you deep-fry them, over-roast them, or add a lot of oil, sugar, and seasonings, it will be more troublesome. Over-dried nuts absorb moisture from the mouth and digestive tract, which can easily cause inflammation of the mucosa. If you add a lot of salt, it will be even more serious.

Problem 5: Wrong meal selection. Consequence: Unbalanced nutrition of the three meals.

Nuts and oilseeds are best eaten in the morning. This is because breakfast time is rushed and many people often eat too little. Adding nuts and oilseeds can enhance the quality of breakfast, making it more delicious and more resistant to hunger. At the same time, using nuts and oilseeds with foods with high glycemic indexes such as bread and steamed bread can reduce the postprandial blood sugar response. If you eat at night, the food is often very rich and the dishes are full of oil. Eating a handful of nuts and oilseeds will obviously make the dinner higher in calories and the digestive burden heavier.

Problem 6: Wrong variety selection. Consequence: Unbalanced fatty acids.

Since nuts and oilseeds are a source of fat, it is necessary to consider the balance of fatty acids. What fatty acids are lacking and what fatty acids are in excess can be adjusted with nuts and oilseeds.

For example, people who cook with peanut oil on a daily basis do not need to eat peanuts. People who cook with sunflower oil on a daily basis do not need to eat sunflower seeds. Otherwise, the fatty acids will be more biased in the same direction.

Problem 7: Digestion cannot keep up. Consequences: stomach blockage, bloating, and diarrhea.

Nuts and oilseeds contain a lot of anti-nutritional ingredients, such as phytic acid, oxalic acid and polyphenols, which inhibit digestive enzymes. At the same time, nuts are hard and dense, difficult to chew thoroughly, and difficult for digestive enzymes to reach. People with indigestion may easily experience stomach blockage and bloating after eating too many nuts and oilseeds, and some people may even have diarrhea.

Therefore, people with weak digestive ability should avoid eating a large amount of fried or roasted nuts and oil seeds. You can consider boiling them in a pressure cooker, or putting them in a soy milk maker or wall breaker and blending them into a pulp before eating, which will put much less burden on the digestive system.

Problem 8: Not suitable for your body type. Consequences: Allergies, acne and inflammation.

Because the fatty acid ratio in nuts and oil seeds is not right, omega-6 fatty acids are too high, which may not be conducive to controlling inflammation, induce acne, or make acne problems worse. For example, sunflower seeds and watermelon seeds are super high in omega-6, which is not friendly to skin problems. Macadamia nuts, almonds, almonds and other varieties with oleic acid as the main content are much better. Cashews and peanuts are in between.

Many people have chronic allergies to nut oil seeds, and a very small number of people even have acute allergies to nut oil seeds. People with inflammation of the skin and mucous membranes are not suitable for eating too much.

In short, although nuts and oil seeds are rich in protein, multiple trace elements, vitamin E and dietary fiber, they also need to be eaten properly to truly reap their health benefits.

To sum up, the reasonable way to eat is:

1. Try to eat in the morning. It can improve the nutrition of breakfast without overeating.

2 Eat with carbohydrate foods. It is suitable to be eaten with dried fruits, staple foods, or in pastries.

3 Nuts can be added to cold dishes. If used in stir-frying, try to avoid frying or over-roasting.

4 If you want to eat more nuts, you should reduce the amount of cooking oil and fatty snacks.

5 Choose nuts with fresh smell. It is safer to choose vacuum or nitrogen-filled packaging for products with a long shelf life.

6 When choosing nut varieties, consider the overall fatty acid balance of the diet and avoid duplication with cooking oils.

7 People with indigestion can moderate the amount of nuts and oil seeds they consume, and it is more appropriate to use a blender to make nut milk.

8 People with inflammation and acne problems should avoid nut oil seed varieties that contain too much omega-6 fatty acids.

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Fan Zhihong_Original Nutrition Information