We should eat 22-23 almonds in a day. Myth or fact? A dietician answers

While almonds are recommended by most health experts for their multiple benefits, many wonder how many almonds they can ideally have in a day.

Almonds are a storehouse of nutrients loaded with proteins, fibre, fat, Vitamin E, magnesium, manganese, copper and phosphorous and can very well be incorporated in your weight loss diet. Excellent for heart health, almonds also aid in lowering bad cholesterol.

6-8 or 22-23 - how many almonds should we have in a day?(Pixabay)

There are many ways of consuming these super-healthy nuts from eating them raw or soaked, to adding them in desserts or smoothies after powdering them.

While almonds are recommended by most health experts for their multiple benefits, many wonder how many almonds are ideal to have in a day - 6-8 or 22-23? Ritika Samaddar, the Regional Head-Dietetics, Max Healthcare – Delhi talks about the recommended quantity of almonds one can have in a day.

According to Samaddar, one can have 1 ounce or 28-30 gm of almonds every day, which makes it 22-23 almonds.

"One snack I would definitely recommend is almonds. As per a study, snacking on almonds regularly helps reduce central adiposity (belly fat) and waist circumference. Be sure to eat a handful of almonds every day to manage your weight better, and while adding to your heart’s health.” says Ritika Samaddar.

Samaddar also busts some myths about almonds that people believe in but which are not true, in a telephonic conversation with HT Digital.

Myth 1: Almonds are high on cholesterol

Truth: Almonds actually have zero cholesterol. Anything which is a plant product does not have any cholesterol. Many people say almonds are not good for diabetes or heart patients. On the contrary, almonds have zero cholesterol and in fact they lower your bad cholesterol which could be beneficial for heart patients.

Almond milk(Pixabay)

Myth 2: Almonds are 'garam'

Truth: In India, we have this concept of garam (hot) and thanda (cold). People think that if we have too many almonds, it will not suit our body and it is very 'garam'. Most of us believe we should have not more than 4-5 almonds in a day. On the contrary, if you substitute unhealthy snacks with almonds, and have handful of them (22-23), that is going to be heart protective and good for diabetes.

Myth 3: We should remove almond's peel before eating

Truth: When you ask people, most of them soak and peel them before eating. Soaking is fine because it helps in the absorption of micronutrients but we should avoid peeling them. When we talk about almonds, it is very high on fibre and the moment you are peeling off the skin, you are just going off fibres. You should never be peeling it.

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