I was grocery shopping the other day and grabbed a bunch of nuts and seeds to make a big batch of my paleo granola. While I shopped the nut/seed aisle, I realized just how tricky it can be to buy quality nuts. There are so many options, all with different labels and claims, and if I’m being honest, *most* of the nuts aren’t great. I put together a few tips to make it a little easier for next time you’re shopping.
Nuts are a great addition to any healthy diet for a few reasons:
- They contain healthy fats and protein to help sustain your energy and are low in carbs
- Nutritionally rich, including essentials like omega-3’s, vitamin E, magnesium, and zinc. They’re also rich in antioxidants, which protect your body at a cellular level against free radicals. Free radicals are a byproduct whenever your body breaks down food or when you’re exposed to tobacco smoke, radiation, etc.
- Easily portable for snacking on-the-go
The DOs and DON’Ts of buying nuts:
- DON’T buy nuts in bulk. Because of the high fat content in nuts, they tend to become rancid when not stored properly.
- DO buy nuts that come in jars, cans, or vacuum-sealed packages to protect them from air exposure and retain freshness – and if possible, DO store nuts and seeds in the refrigerator to avoid rancidity if you don’t go through them often.
- DON’T buy nuts with added sugars or inflammatory oils (vegetable & seed oils including soybean oil, corn oil, rapeseed oil, cottonseed oil, safflower oil, canola oil, palm oil, etc.). Read more about why inflammatory oils aren’t the best choice here. I tend to avoid any and all ‘roasted and salted’ nuts because they’re typically always made with inflammatory oils.
- DO buy dry-roasted nuts with only 1 or 2 ingredients (nuts and salt).
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