Wednesday, June 30, 2010

nuts

NUTS NUTS NUTS!!

Some people love their carbs . . MASSIVE slices of bread . . pasta . . oats . . potatoes . .

don’t get me wrong i’ll take anything i can get when i’m hungry . .

But Me? i LOVE my fats . .  i will take a bowl of nuts over a bowl of pasta ANY DAY of the week my friend . .

AND what put an even BIGGER smile on my face . . is the fact that we may not in fact digest all the calories in the nuts we eat . .

so to all you nut freaks out there . .  hop on the nutty train and listen up . .

First of all there are 2 types of fibers that we eat . . soluble and insoluble . . both can’t be digested by our bodies . . which means that they are NOT absorbed in the bloodstream, which means they DON’T get used as energy, it simply just takes up space like the average overseas tourist travelling through melbourne . .

Soluble Fiber dissolves in water and forms a gel-like substance in the stomach . .

Insoluble Fiber does NOT dissolve in water, and is “rough” as it passes through the intestines.

Now insoluble fiber is WHERE IT’S AT . . minimal calories . . makes you feel fuller, quicker because it absorbs water, reducing appetite . . it acts as a “cleanser” if you like . . like a brush or a sponge . . bunching up in the digestive tract . . and it’s solid form remains consistent as it leaves the body . . producing solid, big ass stool (you probably know that one already . . i just wanted to say big ass stool).

Insoluble fiber you’ll find in wheat bran, celery, green beans, any green-leafy vegetable really, tomatoes, nuts and seeds, cucumbers, zucchini. 

NOW . . back to the nutty facts . .

nuts

As we know, nuts are made up of protein, fiber, fat . . now nuts are actually an insoluble fiber . . as we know now . . insoluble fiber is resistant to digestion so we do not absorb ALL the calories from it . .

OK . . CALM DOWN TIGER . . let me explain why . .

If we’re not storing the calories we eat as FAT, then they’re either a)getting burned up in the body . . b) they’re leaving the body . . c) the calories are substituting for other calories . . or lock in d) eddie . . all of the above . .

One theory is . . now by “theories” i mean studies have been performed . . that the energy we get from nuts causes us to eat LESS of other foods  . . this affect can account for a range of about 55-100% of the extra calories from nuts . .

Second theory is . . Up to around 10% of the energy in nuts may be used to digest and absorb them.

Third theory is . . the calories in the fat pass through the body undigested and show up in the feces right? SOO that accounts for about 5 - 15% of extra calories.

Now what DOES also matter is the way you’re eating your nuts . .

A trial was done comparing peanut consumption in different forms on fecal energy excretion . . the forms were whole peanuts, peanut butter, oil, and peanut flour . . results concluded the percentage of fat in the feces increased SIGNIFICANTLY in the whole peanut group compared to the other groups . .

which means the energy loss is GREATER with WHOLE nuts . . as opposed to your natural peanut butter . . or spread . . now i can’t see why this wouldn’t be the case with other nuts too . .

Cooking is another factor to take into account . . it breaks down the nuts at a chemical level . . a level that our body is unable to . . making it easier for our bodies to digest the nuts . .

Tannins, which are found in nuts, are naturally occuring polyphenolics . . enough with the technical terms . . my brain is spinning . . BASICALLY . . the tannin’s main function is to protect the animals from eating them . . because of their bitter taste.

You’ll know which nuts have tannin in them, you can taste the bitterness, pistachio’s, cashews, pecans, walnuts, and the skins of almonds and peanuts.

What’s interesting is that tannin’s are heat-resistant . . so even if you cook the shit out of it with high temp cooking . . it don’t matter . . roasting will NOT break them down . .

Soaking nuts makes it easier to digest too . . it re-hydrates them . . and removes chemicals called “enzyme inhibitors” . . which exist for the purpose of protecting the nut before it’s time to sprout . . when you soak them in water . . the fluid releases these chemicals and washes them away . .

SOO in terms of more bang for your buck with calories. . it looks like it’s harder to digest whole nuts as opposed to the spreads, or the oils, and easier to digest nuts when they are cooked and chemically broken down . .

But i pose the question to YOU . . if we continue to eat whole nuts . . will our bodies become more efficient at chewing them and digesting them over time? And if so, does this mean we will end up digesting more calories?

1 comment:

  1. Dayam!!! I’m with you Mel, looooove nuts indeed - brazil, almond, cashew, pistachio, walnut any nut!!

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