I do like a nut… but I also thought they contained a billion calories so I didn’t eat them very often.

A few almond facts that I’ve found out

Did you know that almonds are high in;

• Protein
• Fibre
• Calcium
• Magnesium
• Vitamin E
• Potassium
• Flavonoids
• B vitamins
• and many other health boosting benefits including stabilising blood sugars, weight loss and lowering blood cholesterol

Yes almonds are high in fat but lucky for us they are healthy fats, ones according to research we should eat more of.

I have been taking part in a challenge involving eating 28g of almonds daily for 21 days to see if it has any effect on me.

The biggest benefit I have found so far is that when I feel hungry, if I snack on a packet of almonds instead of reaching for a chocolate bar or biscuits, the almonds are just as satisfying, if not more, and my hunger is quashed for hours. This has got to be far far better for me than the chocolate or biscuits or cake.

I have also been suffering with extremely dry skin since the beginning of the year. I have been doing several things to try and improve this including eating almonds daily so I can’t say whether it’s a combination of these that have helped my skin but it is certainly a lot better than it was. We all know that good fats and vitamins help the skin and 28g of almonds each day provides 35% of your recommended daily value of vitamin E.

A recommended serving size is 28g or about 23 almonds and this contains 160 calories, not the lowest of calorie snacks but an acceptable one.  There are however a lot more calories in a bar of chocolate along with saturated fats so if almonds are used to replace regular high calorie snacks there has got to be benefits.

I have found putting the almonds in a pretty little tin tricks my brain into thinking they are my special treat and they have been perfect for that late afternoon slump especially when I have to sit in the car for hours waiting for the girls to do their dance lessons. Before it was quite easy to go out without any food, feel really hungry and pop over to the shop for a bar of chocolate. Now I feel full up snacking on the almonds. I have been encouraging my fourteen year old daughter to reach for a packet of these too instead of a bag of crisps which can be high in saturated fat.

I prefer to have my almonds as a snack (I pretend they’re my little sweets, delicious) but there are many ways to add a handful of almonds to your daily diet, there are lots of ideas on the Almond Board’s website including salads, muffins, truffles and dips.

This is definitely something I am going to try and keep on with and also encourage my children to do on a regular basis. Personally I think it would be beneficial for us to incorporate almonds into our diet regularly but perhaps not every single day. I think we will rotate this with other healthy snacks to gain maximum benefit from a variety of vitamins and minerals etc.

Disclaimer: California Almonds has asked me to take part in the Snack Happy Challenge. They have provided me with all I need to complete the challenge. For more information about healthy snacking please visit www.AlmondBoard.co.uk

Other information :

Four Great Health Benefits of Raw Almonds

Cholesterol: Top Five Foods to Lower your Numbers