The Good News About Nuts & Seeds
Eat Fat or Don’t Eat Fat, That is the Question
The major determinant of your long term health is the nutritional quality of the calories you eat. It is the quality of the fat you eat, the quality of the protein and the quality of the carbohydrate that influences your health.
Ask yourself, is the food I am about to eat a whole, natural plant source of calories? Is it packaged with fiber, antioxidants and phytochemicals? Does it contain not just discovered nutrients, but plenty of undiscovered nutrients too? Or were most of those fragile, but beneficial nutrients lost in the way the food was processed or prepared? These are the questions, to ask yourself, not whether it is a low fat or high fat food.
You may have heard that nuts, seeds and avocados are fatty and fattening and are foods to be shunned. However, recent evidence from many different studies showing a wide variety of health benefits from eating these foods has finally buried this myth. It is important to emphasize that the health problems associated with high fat diets are from consuming animal fats, processed oils and trans fats, not from the consumption of avocados, and raw nuts and seeds. There has never been a study that showed any negative health outcomes from consuming these natural, high fat, whole plant foods. In fact, the studies that have been done only show positive health benefits, and conclude that these foods should be an important part of a well-rounded, healthy diet.
Macronutrients are the three sources of calories—fat, carbohydrate and protein. Americans eat too much of all three and we need to reduce all of them. I intentionally do not give a preferred percentage of each macronutrient in the diet and I do not recommend fat be significantly limited. Trying to micromanage the precise amount of each caloric source misses the most critical issue in human nutrition. The real critical issue in human nutrition is meeting your macronutrient needs without excess, for all three macronutrients, and getting sufficient micronutrients in the process (vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals—the parts of food that do not contain calories). There is a broad acceptable range in the macronutrient ratio as long as one is not overeating calories.
However, adhering to a diet that is less than 10 percent of calories from fat is not an appropriate recommendation for ideal health and often results in less than ideal health outcomes. One could be on a healthful diet that is 15 percent of calories from fat or a healthful diet that is 30 percent of calories from fat too. As long as the diet is rich in micronutrients and does not exceed our need for calories, the lower fat diet has no advantage in the prevention and treatment of disease. There is no evidence to suggest that a diet of equal calories that is much lower in fat is an advantage for prevention or treatment of heart disease or any other disease. Studies that compare dietary fat percentages suggest that it is not the fat level, but other more critical qualities that make the diet more or less beneficial.
To achieve an ideal level of phytonutrients and other micronutrients it necessitates eating a large amount of green vegetables each day. Any diet that does not recommend sufficient consumption of vegetables is lacking. When you eat lots of vegetables, especially green vegetables, you meet your body’s need for fiber and micronutrients with very little calories. Then to comprise the balance of the diet and fill our caloric needs we can choose an assortment of other foods, preferably ones that are of the highest nutrient quality. Unlike some other doctors and authors advocating a plant-based diet, I recommend more vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts and seeds and use less bread, potato, and rice. With the addition of nuts and seeds, which average about 175 calories an ounce, one or two ounces a day brings the diet up to the 15 – 30 percent of calories from fat range. My recommend diet is definitely not under 10 percent of calories from fat and because of the addition of seeds and nuts it is also considerably higher in protein too.
It might seem logical to restrict higher fat foods like nuts seeds and avocado because high fat foods are higher in calories and fat is 9 calories per gram compared to 4 calories a gram for carbohydrates and protein. Of course one should take care not to eat too many calories and adjust the level of these foods to maintain a slim body and not to overeat on them or any other food. However, there are lots of good reasons to include at least some of these higher fat foods in one’s diet.
Evidence is accumulating that a diet as low as 10 percent of calories from fat Is too low, even for the overweight, diabetic or heart disease patient and that the judicious use of these higher fat foods is beneficial for not just heart disease, but for weight loss and diabetes too. The scientific literature corroborates my clinical experience over the last 15 years caring for thousands of patients with obesity, diabetes and heart disease, and provides evidence to show that for every calorie removed from the diet from rice, potato, bread or animal products and substituted with raw seeds and nuts you get many health benefits, such as:
• Lower blood sugar
• Lower cholesterol
• Lower triglycerides
• Better LDL/HDL ratio
• Better antioxidant status
• Better absorption of phytochemicals from vegetables
• Better diabetic control
• Lower weight
• More effective reversal of heart disease
• Prevention of cardiac arrhythmias in heart patients
• More weight loss, not weight gain
• Better nutritional diversity and satisfaction with less calories
• Increased protection against cancer
• Better muscle and bone mass with aging
With the growing awareness of the health properties of nuts and seeds, we must also realize that they must be eaten in moderation. Should we all sit in front of our TV’s, eat the entire bag of nuts in an hour, and complain when we gain weight? Of course not. Healthy eaters avoid excessive calories and do not eat for recreation. Eat only an ounce a day if you are significantly overweight, but if thin, physically active, pregnant or nursing eat 2 – 4 ounces according to your caloric needs.
- Posted by Joel Fuhrman MD on September 30, 2009 at 8:13 am
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Tagged as: antioxidents, calories, fats, nutrients, nutrition, nuts, protein, seeds
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Dr. Fuhrman – I have been eating more nuts/seeds for the past couple of years to maintain a balance “good” fats, but was recently diagnosed with diverticulitis. The research appears to mixed on whether all nuts/seeds should be eliminated to avoid future bouts. I am curious as to your opinion on this matter because I am currently very confused.
I am a huge fan – thank you for your continuing contributions to CSL!
Sherry
Dr. Fuhrman – I have been eating more nuts/seeds for the past couple of years to maintain a balance “good” fats, but was recently diagnosed with diverticulitis. The research appears to mixed on whether all nuts/seeds should be eliminated to avoid future bouts. I am curious as to your opinion on this matter because I am currently very confused.
I am a huge fan – thank you for your continuing contributions to CSL!
Sherry
OH! You’re my new favorite blogger fyi
Nuts, Seeds, and Avacados are my major source of protien and fat along with legumes. It seems that the culture has a reservation that they will make you gain wieght. It seems in my life experience that they make you healthier able to eat less and feel stronger and slimer. Thanks for the info and the great blog. Callie
I appreciate the clear information. What I find confusing is that very well respected MDs such as McDougall and Esselstyn really say something very different about the amount of fat in our diets and recommend a plant based, low fat vegan diet. In fact Dr McDougalls new book is about eating a starch based diet (rice, potatoes etc). Perhaps these well respected men and Dr Fuhrman just disagree…but its so confusing to those of us who enjoy following their work and respect them. Which to follow? Which to believe?
At least Esselstyn and Ornish have independently reversed heart disease. I think that gives them a bit more credibility than an article claiming so many scientific studies supporting his advice and not providing even ONE of them.
Also, Essy was very clear that the issue is total grams of fat, although he did recommend no avocadoes or nuts for those who already have heart disease.
dr. Fuhrman has a book on cholesterol.. these whole food fats are packaged with fiber too… He is not for processed fats ,just like the others.believe. They do agree. dr. F prefers whole foods and starchy breads as less.. as they are processed .. His theme is Nutrient Density.. He lowers cholesterol and does a lot with heart patients. http://www.drfuhrman.com
As an avid follower of Dr Fuhrman’s nutrient dense way of eating I’m finding that I have lost weight while still eating 2-3 oz.of nuts,seeds and avocados as long as I’m keeping my intake of veggies,especially leafy greens,high as well as beans,fruits and staying away from processed foods.My last blood test results determined that I am at a reduced risk for heart disease.At 55 years old and having a parent die of heart disease at a young age I am confident that following Dr F’s diet gives me that protection.
To Mark,
Check out Dr. Fuhrman’s books & website. He cites all the research studies in them. I know Esselstyn & Ornish do good work, but it’s well known that even whole food starches have far less nutrients in them than greens, beans, nuts & avocados. And the only fats that are bad for you are ones Dr. F mentions above.
To Sherry,
You might want to contact Dr. Fuhrman directly on this, but here are some thoughts. We develop diverticulitis from not eating enough fiber. That said, once you have it, you may need to grind up some fibers so they pass easily. One thing Dr. F recommends is blended salads, which taste like a fruit smoothie, but have greens added to boost the nutrient punch. If you use a powerful blender like a Vitamix, nuts/seeds can be used because they are chopped up very fine.
I’m a huge fan of Dr. Fuhrman. Reading his book Eat to Live changed my life.
I really don’t understand Fuhrman. I don’t know anyone who is under nourished and needs more of anything. Nuts & Fats are seasonal and you can eat as many nuts as you can open with your bare hands, just as we’ve done for the past millions of years. Our current relationship with food is blinded by global trade and abundance. Nutrient chasers are just as blind as protein chasers. Eat a diet as we have for all of recorded history. Starch, Starch & More Starch. The 100 year olds in Okinawa are most certainly not blending up salads…
we are a nation of undernourished-malnourished people. just look at our growing weight and increase of diseases like cancer, heart disease, diabetes. Dr Fuhrman is simply trying to re-teach us how to eat more healthfully & naturally. we dont live off the land anymore–we dont know which way is up nutritionally. we need guidance. we have lost our way. I believe Dr F gives us the correct and proper guidance. It is the unbiased, common sense knowledge that we need to hear, not what we Want or Wish to hear. If we lived off the land, maybe we wouldnt need him, but we dont–our diets are filled with junky processed foods and factory farmed products. we NEED people like Dr Fuhrman. His knowledge has changed my life. I no longer have Type 2 diabetes or high cholesterol.
To Lex,
Your post is vague & could be improved with a few details. You refer to the way that “we” ate for recorded history. Unless my knowledge fails me utterly, native peoples have eaten a variety of diets for a long time, and not all of them produce optimum health or longevity in humans (although they do allow for survival long enough to reproduce, ensuring population continuity). Your post also seems to imply that native peoples everywhere eat starch-centered diets (you list no other variants, and you seem to recommend this diet), which is false. The Inuit are an obvious example.
I have no particular bone to pick — just a low tolerance for bad thinking….
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