How wrong snacking on nuts, fruits leads to weight gain

Some people opt for healthy nuts and dried fruits to reduce their weight and in the process tend to replace their meals and snack more with the nuts because they are healthy, forgetting that they, too it contain calories.

Miss Manda, in her early 20s, said while trying to lose weight and avoiding or skipping meals, she opt for eating more nuts and fruits because they are tagged as healthy.

“But after a while, I realised I was adding weight instead of losing it, from eating less meal and more of healthy nuts. It got me really worried as I believed I was living healthy even though not exercising much but eating less and eating healthy nuts and dried fruits from suggestions I got from the internet.”

She added that she was forced to meet a dietitian as she was becoming overweight for her age then “I realised those nuts contain calories and I was eating the wrongly.”

A lot of people are snacking on nuts and dried fruits while dieting without knowing how many calories they contain, said a dietician and fitness coach, Peace Emezue.

The dietician said, “I see so many people doing this unknowingly; they assume that because nuts and dried fruits are healthy it means they are a good snack to have while trying to lose weight excessively.

She explained that, 50g of Almonds contains 275 calories, 50g walnut 325 calories,10 medjool dates 670 calories,100g dried nuts 360 calories while 50g hazelnut carries 315 calories amongst other nuts and dried fruits people snack on.

“The truth is that nuts are super healthy but losing body fat depends on calories-in versus calories-out. As you see, nuts are super calories dense and while snacking on them you could easily eat over 500-600 calories without noticing,” she added.

Emezue stressed that people should be aware of whatever they are taking into their body system especially calories. “When it comes to body weight loss, avoid starving your body from meals as it is very important to eat and drink water in the process, and limit snacking on nuts and dried fruits because you can easily overeat them no matter how healthy they are.

She added that people should always consult a specialist for better options and exercise,” she advised