'A pawful of nuts' however is also a healthy snack. Nuts when eaten raw and unsalted provide a source of plant protein. Many nuts are also rich in the right kinds of fats (unsaturated and containing omega 3).
Nuts are however high in calories and quickly make up your daily requirements for fat and protein. No matter how tempting it is, the key phrase is 'a pawful of nuts' and is not the same as 'the energetic pawfulling of many nuts'. The Harvard School for Public Health suggests a daily serving of 1 ounce (25g) of nuts. At approximately 185 calories per ounce, this serving should replace other fatty snacks and/or animal protein, rather to be seen as an additional supplement
(http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/nuts-for-the-heart/index.html).
But how many nuts is 25 grams approximately? I decided to conduct a home weigh-in exercise (admittedly my weighing scales are not digital, but then again this is an approximation):
25g equals the following amounts of nuts and seeds:
- 22 almonds (low GI)
- 7 brazils
- 15 cashews
- 20 hazelnuts (low GI)
- 8 macadamia (halves)
- 12 pecans (halves)
- 30 pistachios (unshelled and unsalted)
- 10 walnuts
Seeds and pinenuts are too onerous to count, so 25g translated into rounded dessertspoonfuls=
- 1.5 dspns, pinenuts
- 2 dspns, sunflower seeds
- 2 dspns, pumpkin seeds
**You can work out what your daily minimum requirement is for protein in grams by multiplying your weight in pounds by .36. If you weigh 140lbs (63kg or 10 stone), your requirement would be a mere 50g. That means one Harvard-approved one serving of nuts is half your daily protein requirement. A bit of a shock, but true.
2 comments:
I am surprised about the amount of protein needed! And thank you for ending the debate on how much a pawful of nuts actually is. Something of a disappointment to find that its only 7 brazils ;-)
I suppose the issue here is about what's needed. These amounts are based on what you need so that you don't suffer malnutrition. They're the bare minimum to keep your bod ticking over. I think it's useful because particularly when you're veggie, friends sometimes wonder out loud if you get enough protein,and to be honest I never really knew. Seems now like I didn't need to worry. So if I were you I would use this info to limit yourself when you're feeling completely gluttonous, but not to use it as a weapon to beat yourself up with when you're tired and genuinely need the pick me up that another 3-4 brazils would give you.
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