Eating nuts as a meal

KittyIngratta

Hi there. I would please like some advice. I love love nuts. Almonds and cashews. But I have developed a habit. I have been eating nuts as a meal. About 80 grams of almonds for lunch about 3 times per week for the last 2 years or so. So I have a coffee / green tea for breakfast and then the nuts and then dinner as normal (salads or beans or whatever vegetarian food I make). I am so scared of not getting the nutrients I need by eating this way. I do about 5 - 6 classes per week at gym. Any advice? Thank you in advance.

martyqueen52

My advice.... stop eating nuts as a meal. I don't know what else to tell you, seriously. Eating nuts alone will NOT be sufficient long term for your body to get all the nutrients it needs.

I feel you on having a slight addiction to them, I do too. Especially with nut butters and cookie butters. Just STOP buying those items you have a problem with.

eat your favorite mix as a snack a few times a day if you have to have them, AS A SNACK. As long as it fits within your calories.

KarenJanine

If you're meeting your nutrient requirements from your other meals then having nuts for lunch will not hurt. Many people rely on just one or two main meals a day in order to get most of their nutritional needs.

umayster

Almonds pack alot of nutrition in a small package. I also make them lunch regularly.

Almonds are pretty high in Omega 6 fats and Omega 3/Omega 6 balance is important so you may want to be conscious of that and avoid other high Omega 6 food and make sure something you eat regularly is high in Omega 3s.

KittyIngratta

Thanks so much for the advice, guys. I think I seriously need to look at my diet. My calorie goal per day = 1400; 50% carbs, 30% protein, 20% fat but I go over on the fat nearly every single day because of the nuts or the avo or the coconut that I have and I never ever hit my protein goal. I think I'll start prepping proper meals for during the day at work. I mean, we eat quinoa, tofu, seitan at dinner so I'll make extra and bring to work. 2 body pump classes per week; 2 cardio sessions; 2 yoga sessions so I need proper nutrition I think. Also, I've been eating alot of sugar (about 50g of chocolate a day) so need to sort this *kitten* out ASAP I think. Thanks very much, again.

nvmomketo

I wouldn't worry about it if it fits into your macros. I eat a cup of pisachios for lunch at least once a week, but my macros are set up much fat heavier than yours.

Need2Exerc1se

There is nothing wrong with what you describe as long as your diet is balanced overall. It's impossible to say whether it is or isn't with so little information, but the fact that you eat only nuts for lunch is not reason to believe it isn't balanced.

pmm3437

The only danger when eating mono meals, assuming the food in question is biologically safe, is the lack of nutritional balance for macro and micro nutrients.

As long as you are accounting for the nutritional deficiencies in your other meals so that you end up with a balanced weekly plan, there should be no long term health issues from eating this way. You may experience short term GI issues ( gas, changes in bowel movements, etc ) depending on what you are eating, but considering how long you've already been following this plan, you should be well aware of any of these.

If you are not accounting for the nutrition, then you need to start doing so. If you can do that within your eating plan, then you can continue with the regular mono meals. If you cant, then you need to adapt your plan, or risk the potential long term damage of those deficiencies.

As far as your current choice of almonds, the nutrition isn't half bad, but its not great either. 80g is ~ 460 cals, 17g protein, 9.5g fiber, 40g fat and 17.5g carbs. The calories per gram of protein ratio is too high, and that coupled with the fact its not a complete protein, makes it unsuitable as a primary source of protein for my plan, so I wouldn't eat them in this kinda quantity.

There is belief that they help promote heart health, lower LDL, help prevent diabetes, and promote health and reduce cancer risk in the GI tract. I am not aware of any health risks specifically attributed to almonds, that are similar to say eating too many Brazil nuts ( excess selenium ). The recommendation to gain the ascribed health benefits is a much lower intake thou, believe its in the 8-10 unit range, which is more like 13-15g.

Katzedernacht

I eat a decent serving of nuts/almonds as one of my meals, but I don't think one can limit to one kind of food

nvmomketo

I don't think eating nuts as a meal would exclude other foods. It is basically the same as eating a sandwich for lunch everyday or oatmeal for most breakfasts. As long as the other (21-3=) 17 meals in the week are not nuts, it is probably a fine choice, especially if it compliments your macro ratio.

RodaRose

KittyIngratta wrote: »

Hi there. I would please like some advice. I love love nuts. Almonds and cashews. But I have developed a habit. I have been eating nuts as a meal. About 80 grams of almonds for lunch about 3 times per week for the last 2 years or so. So I have a coffee / green tea for breakfast and then the nuts and then dinner as normal (salads or beans or whatever vegetarian food I make). I am so scared of not getting the nutrients I need by eating this way. I do about 5 - 6 classes per week at gym. Any advice? Thank you in advance.

You are doing fine eating nuts (especially almonds). Get more seitan into your day if that is working for you because it has a good amount of protein. Look at more low calorie veggies like spinach, kale, Brussels sprouts, yellow squash, green beans, cucumbers. Quinoa does not have a good amount of protein for the amount of calories -- unless you like it and it is fitting into your day.It is o.k. to go over on the fat. Seriously, the fat does not matter.

Kalikel

Scared doesn't help. Log what you eat and look at your micros. If you see that you aren't getting what you need, then make some changes. It's very simple and requires no worrying.

Give it a shot. You can do it.

ms_true

Kitty -- I make a Paleo Seed & Nut Bread and have a slice with a little butter for breakfast. I substituted homemade unsweetened applesauce for the olive oil (just because nuts are so high in fat!), used 1/2 tbsp honey rather than 1 tbsp and added cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger to kick it up a notch. It's sooo much better toasted. You can freeze it to keep it out of the way of temptation.

Calories 221 (slice it into 18 servings) Carbs 12 Fat 17 Protein 10 Fiber 3.

Paleo Bread

*I used a blend of almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds. It takes 10 minutes of hands on work.