One thing to note, this post is going to talk about the Culinary Nuts, so we will talk about Peanuts (our favorite legume), seeds of drupe fruits (walnuts, pistachios, almonds) as well as our technical nuts (hazelnut, etc). You may be thinking, what makes a nut a “technical nut”?!?! Well it’s pretty simple, but you certainly do not need to understand this to pick the culinary nut that offers you the most fiber for your calorie! If you must know though, I’ve broken it down below, and if you don’t care, just move on to the next section.
Nut classifications
Technical nut – is a seed that lives in a hard fruit
Drupe fruit nut – is a seed that lives in a fleshy fruit
Legume – is the fruit of a flowering plant under the Fabaceae family
In general, nuts have more calories than some of the other food categories we have looked at such as fruits and vegetables, so the fiber to calorie ratio is not great. But some nuts do have higher amounts of fiber and less calories than others. For example, the following nuts are our top nuts, with 3 to 5 grams of fiber and 160 to 230 calories as detailed below:
Top high-fiber nuts
Peanuts (¼ cup, no shells) has 5 grams of fiber in 180 calories
Pistachios (¼ cup, no shells) has 3 grams of fiber in 160 calories
Almonds (1 ounce, no shells) has 3 grams of fiber in 160 calories
Pecans (¼ cup, no shells) has 3 grams of fiber in 190 calories
Macadamia (¼ cup, no shells) has 3 grams of fiber in 230 calories
Nuts with less fiber and more calories
These include hazelnuts, walnuts and brazil nuts. These nuts have only 2 grams of fiber in about 180 calories.
Hazelnuts (25 grams, no shells) has 2 grams of fiber in 175 calories
Walnuts (¼ cup, no shells) has 2 grams of fiber in 180 calories
Brazil Nuts (6 nuts, no shells) has 2 grams of fiber in 180 calories
And last but not least, while I love eating cashews, these nutty friends have less than 1 gram of fiber in 160 calories:
Cashews (1 ounce, no shells) has less than 1 gram of fiber in 160 calories
Helpful tip to remember
So to sum it up, if you are looking to increase the fiber in your diet and enjoy some nuts, then my top five suggestions are PPAMP – Peanuts, Pistachios, Almonds, Macadamia and Pecans – PleasePAMPerYourself!
And with that, I hope you Please PAMPer Yourself today and have a lovely, nutty day!
Dr. Nicole
