It's Time For An Almond Intervention: There Is Such A Thing As Eating Too Many
If you feel like you’re addicted to almond butter, you’re not alone. (Photo: Getty Images)
If you step into my kitchen, you’ll find lots of almond products: almond milk, almond butter, almond flour, almond yogurt, and raw almonds (both whole and slivered). And because almond has replaced so many other ingredients in my life, it tends to be one that I eat most often—think two or three times a day.
That all stops now.
I just spoke with Foodtrainers founder and registered dietitian Lauren Slayton, and she confirmed that my healthy obsession might not be so healthy after all.
It turns out you can eat too many almonds. It doesn’t matter if they’re whole or used as a substitute like almond flour or almond milk. Overconsumption of any type of food, even healthy nuts, can counteract your health or weight-loss efforts. And when they’re used as substitutes, they might even contain more calories.
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“All almond products, except boxed almond milk, are dense,” Slayton says, “so almond-flour baked goods can sometimes be more caloric than their regular counterparts.”
And while she says food baked with almond or substitutes like coconut are nutritionally superior to, say, a muffin baked with wheat flour, it doesn’t give us free rein to overeat them.
“Coconut and almonds are fats,” she says. And too much fat can lead to weight gain, even if it’s healthy.
That’s why the best approach is balance.
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“I do believe good fats are so important for a healthy mind and body, but when it comes to weight loss, you can definitely overdo it,” says nutritionist Jessica Sepel. Her suggestion is to “stick to one small portion of fat at each meal.” For example, have a ¼ cup of nuts, one tablespoon of nut butter, or one tablespoon of olive oil, while Slayton says to limit nuts to once a day if you’re on a diet.
“Any time we overdo something, we’re likely under-doing something else,” she says. “When I suggest a client reduce grains one meal a day, the vegetables and protein go up.”
Not to mention, a diet high in just one ingredient does tend to get boring, so I’m excited to widen my food range—both in flavor and in nutrients. Though I’ll still keep a small pack of raw almonds in my bag as an occasional afternoon snack.
Which food do you tend to overeat? Do you use any healthy food substitutes?
By Susan Yara
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