If you enjoy munching on almonds, I have some great news for you. A significant portion of their calories are not absorbed into your body after you eat them! Meaning, they actually have less calories than their package label claims. Past studies have indicated that some of the fats in nuts (due to their large particle size) are not completely digested and simply exit the body through the stool.
To further evaluate, a group of scientists fed study subjects a portion of almonds in 4 different forms—whole raw almonds, whole roasted almonds, chopped roasted almonds, and almond butter. After ingesting the almonds, the scientists used special laboratory techniques to accurately measure the exact number of calories the study subjects absorbed from the almonds.
Across the board, except for almond butter, the actual number of calories absorbed from the almonds was less that the nutrition label indicated. Here’s how things shook out: whole raw almonds had 25 percent less calories, whole roasted almonds 19 percent less, and chopped roasted 17 percent less.
Woohoo! Enjoy more almonds for less calories. The “perfect” prescription dose is one handful (about 1 ounce) a day.
