Nutty study reveals benefits
DON’T say no to nuts.
Common misperceptions are leading people to miss out on the potential health benefits of nuts, a group of researchers from the University of Otago says.
The researchers from the university’s human nutrition department, led by Associate Prof Rachel Brown, looked into how people perceived nuts.
They surveyed 489 health professionals and 710 members of the public about what they thought about nuts and what motivated or deterred them from eating nuts.
They found while most people thought nuts were healthy, and contained both good fats and lots of nutrients, many were deterred from eating them by cost or fear of weight gain.
‘‘At the population level, our intakes aren’t good,’’ Prof Brown said.
In fact, research had found nutconsumers typically tended to be leaner than those who did not eat nuts and when put into perspective, nuts were actually an affordable alternative.
She recommended a 30g serving of nuts per person per day and to buy them in bulk.
The cost for 30g worth ranged from 26c for peanuts, up to $2.37 for pine nuts.
‘‘A serving of almonds are about the same cost as a [single] banana or muesli bar.’’
For some types of nuts, a kilogram could end up costing $20 or more.
Peanuts — technically was not a nut, but a legume — worked out to be by far the cheapest.
In terms of the most nutritious nut, Assoc Prof Brown said all nuts were densely packed with nutrients like vitamin E, folate, calcium, magnesium and selenium.
The peanut was a good option, especially for those on a tight budget.
Nuts were best consumed in raw whole form, but the taste might not agree with some.
Other methods included lightly roasting and salting them.
Flavoured nuts were also a good option, if not high in added sugars.
Nut butters were a good way to get the recommended intake for the day, but the whole form tended to be the best method to eat nuts.
‘‘You chomp on them, so some of the fat is not absorbed and instead is lost in the faeces.’’
Prof Brown acknowledged the conundrum promoting nuts posed for those with nut allergies.
She had been researching nuts for about 10 years and recommended people eat a mixture in order to get all of the nutrients.
‘‘They’re actually healthy, so it’s good to be able to say eat more of them.’’