Everyone has heard about ‘5-a-day’ (that failed public health policy that everyone knows about but almost nobody follows). What hardly anyone knows is that nuts (and seeds) don’t count towards that 5-a-day. Which is frankly nuts. While there are hundreds of types of fruit and vegetables that do count towards the 5-a-day, few are the kind of nutritional powerhouses that nuts and seeds are.
What’s the problem with nuts?
There probably isn’t one….
The civil servants in charge of the 5-a-day policy have never provided any rationale for why nuts and seeds were deliberately excluded from the foods which would count towards that 5-a-day. It is likely that back when the policy was being developed in the early 2000s (the policy launched on 23 March 2003) nuts and seeds were not considered ‘healthy’ because of their fat content. And they may have been concerned about the level of salt that salted nuts would have added to the diet, but there’s a really simple workaround for that: specifically exclude salted nuts, in much the same way that potatoes are excluded.
Nuts and seeds do have a high-fat content. But we now know that fat is not the enemy (although globally, governments continue to stick to their outdated and debunked ‘fat is evil’ nonsense). The fats in nuts and seeds are generally the ones that are considered the ‘good’ type of fats. A lot less than half of the fat content of nuts is made up of saturated fat; but saturated fat is not necessarily a bad thing. Quite a lot of the fat content of nuts is made up of the omega 6 linoleic acid along with some omega 3 α-linolenic acid, both of which are good for the cardiovascular system .
Work towards prevention
Right now the health of the nation needs all the help it can get: help that goes beyond what the vastly overstretched, under-resourced NHS can provide. Health in the UK is on a sharp downward slope, across all age ranges and genders. Life expectancy is falling. And healthy life expectancy (the number of years we live in full health, without having to deal with chronic disease) is worse than it was a decade ago. The citizens of the UK need to start taking some proactive preventative action to protect our health.
The decline in health isn’t helped by the increase in poverty – the number of people living in destitution has more than doubled since 2017 whilst overall levels of poverty are higher than they were in the 1970s. Nor is the failing health of the nation helped by the dire state of the UK diet, which itself is impacted by poverty. Most UK diets are high in ultra-processed foods, but are low in the fibre, good fats, vitamins, and minerals that we need to be healthy.
There are lots of things that can be done to help protect our health and prevent chronic disease. Some of them are free, or really don’t cost that much, some, like stopping smoking or drinking less alcohol could even save money! Getting enough sleep and doing some exercise every day, even if it’s ‘only’ going for a walk can make a big difference. But one of the best things anyone can do to protect their health is to start making some changes to what they eat.
It’s really hard to change what we eat
Our relationship with food is so deep-seated that making changes to it is incredibly difficult. What we eat, when we eat, why we eat and how much we eat are all mixed up together and are affected by things like social influences, how much money we can afford to spend, our constantly changing state of mind, how we ate as children, and our personal likes and dislikes.
Taking something out of our diet, particularly if it is something we really like, can be extremely difficult because our patterns of eating are so ingrained that changing them feels terribly disruptive. Oddly enough, adding something in, even though it too can seem disruptive, can be pretty easy, and is more sustainable in the long run, so long as we like what is being added in.
The UK loves snacks
The UK spends an average of £46 per person per year on snacks, with the majority of those snacks being biscuits, crisps and crackers. In fact, for a lot of us, around a quarter of our total calories come from snacks like crisps, cookies, and cakes. Making really small changes, like including nuts and seeds in those daily snacks could make a big difference. Because although nuts and seeds can have high-calorie counts, they also contain a load of seriously beneficial nutrients that you don’t find in other types of snacks. And even better, they are not ultra-processed.
Adding in nuts and seeds could also end up shifting dietary patterns without any real effort, because they make you feel fuller for longer. A recent study found that eating almonds as a mid-morning snack reduced hunger far more than eating crackers, and there was less craving for high-fat foods after almonds had been eaten. This means that people might end up swapping out more unhealthy snacks, like crisps or chocolate, for nuts and seeds because they satisfy the cravings that make us want those high-fat kinds of foods.
So what’s so special about nuts (and seeds)?
They are miniature nutritional powerhouses. Although every different type of nut and seed contains different levels of nutrients, they all contain high levels of good quality protein and reasonable amounts of fibre (seeds contain more fibre than nuts). They contain impressive levels of compounds called phytosterols, which help to balance cholesterol levels by reducing LDL cholesterol (which is considered by the medical profession to be the ‘bad’ type). And they are packed with minerals and reasonable levels of some vitamins (different ones at different levels, depending on the type of nuts and seeds).
They don’t make you fat
There is a big myth around the idea that eating nuts makes you fat. In fact, eating nuts may help you lose some body fat, and reduce your overall risk of obesity. Possibly because of all the protein and fibre, which fills you up and keeps you satiated (the sensation of having eaten enough, preventing you from wanting to eat more). And the wider the range of nuts you eat, the less long-term weight gain there is likely to be.
They help keep your heart and your brain healthy
Eating 30 grams of unsalted nuts and seeds a day has been found to reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, including high blood pressure, heart attacks and heart failure, stroke, and the blocking of blood vessels with cholesterol plaques.
Although the evidence is limited, it does appear that walnuts may help to prevent cognitive decline in older adults. This may be because of the levels of the omega-3 alpha-linolenic acid, one of the fats that is also found in high levels in chia seeds, flax seeds and hemp seeds. There is also evidence that the omega-6 fat, linoleic acid may protect against dementia. There are a lot of nuts and seeds which have high levels of linoleic acid – walnuts, cashew nuts, pecan nuts, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds and sesame seeds.
They could even help to protect against some cancers
Eating a lot of nuts has been linked to a reduced risk of developing cancer of the colon, lungs, and pancreas, and eating a lot of nuts even after diagnosis seems to improve the survival outcomes for people with colorectal, breast and prostate cancers. The research on this is still in very early stages, but with cancer, surely anything is worth a shot?
Nuts and seeds to go
Nuts and seeds are so portable – pop a mixture into a plastic box, or even a bag and off you go. Eating a handful of mixed nuts and seeds every day will up your intake of fibre, good fats, and some amazing minerals and vitamins. Ignore the UK government’s failure (yet another one) to include these nutrient bombs in the 5-a-day groupings, because from a beneficial perspective, that handful certainly counts towards achieving that intake!
