Those are the nuts that should star in their
own feature blog on eating in moderation 😆. We are
talking about eating nuts in their most natural form. Raw.
On that note, did you know
that nuts are actually a fruit?! Don’t get too excited about nuts actively
contributing to your daily fruit servings just yet though! While nuts are a
fruit with a hard, inedible shell and edible centre, they are high in healthy
fats unlike other “fruits” which are high in healthy carbohydrates. And, it is nuts richness in these healthy fats
that make them sooooooo good for us.
The predominate fats in nuts
are unsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats. These are the fats that are
associated with far better long term health outcomes compared to saturated
fats. And, different nuts have different amounts of the different types of
healthy fats, so it is important to try and eat a range of different nuts.
Although sometimes easier said than done, as we often have our go-to-nut when
we are standing in the supermarket at the bulk bins simply because it is our
favourite! Our particular favourite are walnuts as we love them stirred through
salads....and if we going to be totally honest, no carrot cake is complete
without a good dose of walnuts both in the cake and delicately sprinkled over
the cream cheese icing 😆.
Because nuts are high in
healthy fats, they are also high in calories or energy so they make a great
high energy snack or can give a much needed energy boost to meals for hungry
adolescents athletes who are going through the perpetually hungry hollow legs
stage!
No matter which nut is your
favourite and no matter how you like to eat nuts....aim to include a little
nuts in your daily nutrition. It could be as simple as grabbing a handful to
gobble as you run out the door, chucking some in a salad or stir-fry, spreading
a nut butter thinly (or thickly) on a rice wafer, adding peanut sauce to chicken or actively choosing something
containing nuts when you are next at the local cafe catching up with your
mates.
