ALMONDS HELP IN WEIGHT LOSS ??!!
Yes, those tiny food items that most of us try to prevent when someone asks us to take. But did you know that almonds have the ability in them to be your most secret weapon in the battle against that belly fat of yours?
Now you may think if you have some basic nutritional knowledge of almonds, how can a food which is rich in fats possibly help reduce it. Well, buddy if you are such a “thinker”, wait for a while and this question of yours will be cleared.
I think before we jump into anything we must know the nutritional contents in 1 ounce or 28g of almonds(which include around 21 almonds), according to healthline.com-
- Fiber: 3.5 grams
- Protein: 6 grams
- Fat: 14 grams (9g of which are monounsaturated which are considered as healthy fats)
- Vitamin E: 37% of the RDI
- Manganese: 32% of the RDI
- Magnesium: 20% of the RDI
As we can see, almonds have lots of fiber, proteins, and healthy fats along with vitamins and minerals (You can check more details about the nutritional content here! ).
(NOTE: You see, I have used the term healthy fats a lot of times. So if you are wondering what are they, pls firstly read this post so that you can understand how almonds help in weight loss)
So, how do almonds help in weight loss ?
As we now know that almonds have lots of healthy fats and fibers in them. Now I can help you understand the effectiveness of almonds in weight loss.
See, when we eat fibers, we don’t really digest them easily and as early as we do other things. So we have a feeling of fullness for a good amount of hours after consuming such fiber-rich foods. Therefore, we tend to consume fewer calories, resulting in us staying in a calorie deficit which will ultimately lead to weight loss.
Apart from this “fiber effect” of almonds, we had also seen that almonds are also rich in healthy fats, monounsaturated fats to be specific. And they also affect our weight to a great extent. Now let’s discuss how.
According to a recent article published in PubMed, almonds and almost all the other nuts boost our metabolism to a slight extent which can be helpful in weight loss to some extent. Also, our body is not able to consume 10-15% calories from almonds due to their composition.
And further proof of this matter can be found in this study. In it, it was found that people who ate nuts lost more weight than those who didn’t eat them.
However, please don’t misinterpret this post. Don’t think that if you start eating almonds or other nuts you would magically start losing weight. Eating nuts and almonds can only enhance your weight loss and not cause it. If you really want to know all the genuine knowledge about weight loss, click here.
The other benefits of almonds
And hey, don’t start eating your almonds just because they boost your weight loss process. There are many other important benefits of eating almonds with which many of us aren’t familiar. Here are some of them –
- Almonds will help in maintaining your blood sugar levels – You see, there is a great amount of magnesium in almonds. And for your information, magnesium is heavily involved with blood sugar control. In fact, 25-38% of type-2 diabetic people have a magnesium deficiency. If this deficiency is overcome, blood sugar levels can be significantly reduced and insulin function improved.
- Reduced Cholesterol levels – Almonds have a good amount of healthy fats in them. And these healthy fats help in maintaining good cholesterol levels while decreasing bad cholesterol levels at the same time. Here is a study that proves this.
- Prevent oxidation of bad cholesterol – Almonds apart from lowering such cholesterol levels, also prevent their process of oxidation which is, in fact, an important step in developing heart disease as this oxidation leads to blockage of arteries. So, they stop this oxidation and thus help in the prevention of heart disease.
In which form should you consume almonds and how much?
Nowadays, almonds are available in basically many other forms. From being pancakes to being milk. But some of them are present in forms that do the opposite of what an almond can bring you. So it is important to know that in which form we should consume them. So the answer to this is –
You can eat them in either raw form (without removing their peel or skin) or in toasted form. Just note that you must eat its skin also to gain the maximum benefits. Some people may say that peeled and soaked almonds are also beneficial, but let me clear that yes they are beneficial but not more nutritious than their raw form
Now let’s see how much we should eat almonds in a day.
You should eat 6-8 almonds per day in order to avail its maximum benefits