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By Jennifer Vagios, R.D.
APOGEE’s Dietitian

It can sometimes seem daunting to make healthful changes to your diet, but here’s an easy one: Eat almonds. These nuts are tasty, satisfying and packed with vitamins, healthful fats, antioxidants, and fiber. Almonds make a simple snack and—with just a sprinkle—add protein and fiber to salads, cereals, smoothies, even roasted fish and meats. 

These are the reasons we’ve chosen to feature almonds this month.

With their mix of fat and protein, you’ll probably notice that almonds satisfy your hunger right away. They have 163 calories and six grams of protein per ounce, with 13 grams of healthful, unsaturated fat and no cholesterol. Studies suggest that these little nuts are good for controlling blood sugar: Keep a baggie-full in your car glove box or desk drawer to stave off those low moments. Include almonds regularly in your diet and you’ll also boost your levels of copper, B2 and magnesium—nutrients involved in energy metabolism. Almonds are also good for your gut: In one study, they encouraged the growth of healthful intestinal bacteria.

In the long term, people who eat nuts have lower LDL cholesterol, reducing their risk of heart disease. In a group of studies, people who included nuts in their diet four times a week showed a 37% reduced risk of coronary heart disease compared to those who never or seldom ate nuts. Each additional serving of nuts per week was associated with an average 8.3% reduced risk of coronary heart disease.

Go Nuts!
Buy a bag of raw (preferably) or dry-roasted almonds and keep them tightly sealed in a cool, dry, dark place: In your freezer, almonds will keep fresh for up to a year. Invest in slivered or sliced almonds as well; they’re easier to mix into salads and other grain dishes. Choose almonds with the brown skin still on; the skin and meat combination delivers more than double the antioxidants than the meat alone. Keep your almond butter in the fridge, too, to keep it fresh: You can easily make your own with just almonds and a food processor or blender.

I’ve found these easy ways to add almonds to my favorite meals.

Hot cereal: Add 1 Tablespoon of almond butter to your hot cereal in the morning—I mix it into hot oatmeal or spelt flake cereal.

Cool smoothie: Add 1 Tablespoon of almond butter to a smoothie: Put 1 banana (cut into chunks), 4 to 6 ounces of your choice of milk (cow, soy or almond), 1 Tablespoon of almond butter, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, cinnamon to taste and ice (as needed) into a food processor for a nutritious breakfast or snack.

Crunchy coating: To add taste and nutrition to fish, chicken or pork, mix crushed or sliced almonds with whole wheat panko bread crumbs (I use Ian’s), then dip the meat into canola or egg whites, then into the almond-crumb mix. Flavor to taste with pepper and bake at 350 for approximately 25 minutes depending on the size and thickness of the meat.

Salad sprinkles: On a lettuce, spinach or grain salad, toss a handful of slivered, sliced or chopped almonds.

In this month of March, look in the APOGEE Cafe in White Plains and Bedford Hills for snacks and take-out meals that feature almonds.

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