'Everything in moderation.' Have you heard that before?  Well it’s particularly true when we think about eating nuts.  Nuts, in moderation, are good for us, but if we mindlessly shovel them into our mouths, we could easily risk obesity and heart disease by ingesting too many calories and too much harmful fat.

Since I’ve introduced moderation into your consciousness, we should all be on the same page as to what constitutes a healthy serving of nuts.  Since nuts have between 160 and 200 calories per ounce, (assuming you’re not a glutton who needs to have them covered with sugar, chocolate or honey), a normal daily serving is about an ounce.  But how can we easily determine how many nuts are in an ounce?   Good news.  I’ve done some research for you and am about to share that information with you.

If you’re eating filberts, walnut halves, macadamia nuts or hazelnuts, an ounce would be about a dozen nuts.  Prefer cashews?  18 medium cashews should be your target.  If you like almonds, that would be about two dozen and, if you’re chomping on peanuts, put about 35 in your dish before you start. (Don’t make the mistake of mindlessly eating from a bag! And try to avoid nuts that have been pre-salted. The extra sodium isn’t going to help lower your blood pressure!)

But wait a minute… just because you now know how many nuts equal an ounce doesn’t necessarily mean you know how much fat and calories go with each variety.  Good news again.  I’m about to share that information with you too.

It’s worth noting that most nuts contain several different kinds of fat: monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, and omega-3 fatty acids. It’s helpful to know that nuts are a wonderful source of plant-based omega-3 fatty acids. This form of polyunsaturated fat lowers the risk of arrhythmias (irregular heartbeat), triglyceride levels and high blood pressure.

Nuts also offer protein that's accompanied by healthier forms of fat, for example, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are known to lower levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or "bad") cholesterol. Almonds, cashews, peanuts, pecans, pistachios and walnuts all have about 160-200 calories per ounce. Chestnuts are much lower with less than 1 gram of fat/ounce and only 69 calories.  Watch out for Macadamias: They have 204 calories and more than 21 grams of fat per ounce.

I hope you’ll find this information about nuts helpful. And now, there’s nothing left to do but offer you my wish for today: “Nuts to you! But in moderation, of course.”

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