A handful of nuts a day can make a great snack and be part of a healthy diet.  Nuts have fiber, protein and healthy fats, so they help keep you feeling full and satisfied! 

An ounce of plain nuts (1 oz loosely fills ¼ cup) contains between 160 to 200 calories and about 13 to 20 grams of fat.  While nuts are relatively high in fat, the type of fat is mostly healthy mono and polyunsaturated fats.  Replacing saturated fat (ex. red meat, high fat dairy, butter) in your diet with unsaturated fats may help maintain cholesterol levels, improve heart health and promote weight loss. 

 

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says that eating 1-1 1/2 ounces a day of nuts may help reduce the risk of heart disease.  This reduction may not only be due to the fat composition in nuts but also due to their high levels of dietary fiber, several B vitamins, antioxidant vitamin E, magnesium and copper.

Fun Fact:  Although its name implies otherwise, peanuts are not true nuts.  They are actually a legume, similar to peas, lentils, chickpeas and other beans.
 

1 ounce	Pistachios (45-47 nuts)	Almonds (20-24 nuts)	Peanuts (28 nuts)	Walnuts (14 nuts)
Calories	160	170	170	170
Fat (g)	13	15	14	18
Sat Fat (g)	2	1	2	2
Polyunsat Fat (g)	4	4	4	13
Monounsat Fat (g)	7	10	7	3
Carbs (g)	8	5	6	4
Fiber (g)	3	3	2	2
Protein (g)	6	6	7	4