Why Nuts Don’t Make You Fat

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Nuts are a rich source of fat, but many studies have shown that the fat in nuts is absorbed very poorly. This month a study explains why nuts are not fattening. The fat in almonds is located inside the almond cells. Even after prolonged chewing, most of the almond cells remained intact and the fat was still inside the cells. Since fat is absorbed only after it is released from cells, most of the fat in almonds cannot be absorbed in the upper part of your intestinal tract. This explains why the calorie count of nuts is really lower than what you read on the label.

The calorie counts shown on food labels are computed from how much heat can be produced by the food in a laboratory. However, this method of measuring calories is meaningless for foods that are poorly absorbed. The number of calories listed on the label can be much higher than those a person actually absorbs; many of the potential calories pass through, undigested, in the person’s stool. This explains why blood fat levels are lower than expected after a person eats nuts. Another study showed that roasting almonds does not increase the absorption of fat over that absorbed from raw almonds. Some of the fat that has passed through the upper intestines is absorbed after the nuts reach the colon, where bacteria ferment the cell walls to release some of the fat.