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Walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, peanuts, almonds, macadamia nuts, pine nuts, pistachios, Brazil nuts.I love them all. They are my favourite snack food and I take as many opportunities as possible to add nuts to my diet. I put them in muffins, granola bars, green and fruit salads, cookies and desserts.
Peanut butter is also a staple in my home and gets used in more than just the traditional pb&j. I include nuts regularly when cooking cross-culturally, making an African stew, a wok-fried Chinese dish, pad Thai, or crusted Hawaiian fish. I think almost every nation in the world grows and enjoys nuts, and they can be a flavourful and nutritious addition to your own diet.
High in protein and fibre, nuts also contain healthy amounts of folic acid (brain nutrition), vitamin E, and selenium, phytic acid and omega-3 fatty acids. In addition, nuts have what is known as "good" or unsaturated fat and are low in the "bad" or unsaturated fat, and can help in keeping that cholesterol level down, as well as lowering the chance of heart disease. NOTE: The FDA has approved the heart health claim for almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, some pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts, as these nuts contain less than 4g of saturated fats per 50g.
Nuts can be eaten raw, roasted, and dry-roasted. Early indigenous populations soaked their raw nuts before they were eaten, which isn't such a bad idea. Nuts contain enzyme inhibitors, which can strain the digestive system if you are a regular voracious consumer. By soaking overnight before eating or toasting, you are neutralising the enzymes and the nuts will be easier to digest.
The downside of nuts is their calorie content and the ability to restrict you to just a few. Generally a quarter cup of nuts, raw or dry roasted will be around 200 calories. As a snack food, nuts lend themselves to eating handfuls at a time, but like anything, eaten in moderation they are a great addition to your diet and can quickly quell hunger pangs. Many breakfast cereals now contain nuts - pecans, almonds and walnuts, in particular. Almost all breakfast and snack granola bars contain nuts (just watch out for calorie count and sugar content). Keep raw or roasted almonds handy as a snack, toss pecans into a salad with some blue cheese and dried cranberries, or, if you are feeling adventurous, test out this easy recipe for Mafe, an African stew. The ingredients can be found in your local grocery, there is only 5 minutes of prep, 15 minutes to brown and mix, and then it cooks on its own for an hour.
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