Almonds and other nuts are considered quite healthy, yet they contain a lot of fats. People striving for a healthy diet often add nuts to their meals but start to have doubts when they see their calorie content.
Researchers from the University of Toronto assert that there is no need to fear the high calorie content of nuts, as not all calories from them are actually absorbed by the body. The experiment involved 22 participants, both men and women.
For a month, participants were given 75 grams of almonds daily. As a result, half of the calories obtained from almonds remained unabsorbed, while the other half came from cake. In the third phase, all almonds were replaced with cake. (Each phase of the experiment lasted a month, with one-month intervals between them; moreover, participants were divided into three groups, each with a different order of alternating almonds and cake.) The cake and almonds were selected so that, according to standard calculations, the calorie content of a portion of pure almonds, a portion of almonds with cake, and a portion of cake was the same. By alternating cake and almonds, the researchers were able to analyze how calories are absorbed from different sources.
The article published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings states that when consuming almonds, approximately 20% fewer calories were absorbed compared to eating only cake — although, we reiterate, the energy value of the portion of almonds and the portion of cake was equal. The reasons why calories from nuts are not fully absorbed are yet to be determined. However, if one were to replace, say, 2,000–3,000 calories in their daily diet with nuts, they could lose about 2.9 kg over the course of a year.
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