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Why Are Nuts Good For Your Health? | Nutritionist Explains | Myprotein
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Jan 30, 2025
Expert nutritionist explains what nuts are and how they can affect the body. Are nuts the health food that we’ve been led to believe? Dr Richie Kirwan talks about nuts and how they might affect health. Richie explains all the different nutrients they contain and what effect those nutrients can have on your body. As well as info on nut digestion and how it might relate to body weight. Richie lets us in on why nuts are good for our health. So what even is a nut? Let's get into it. Follow Richie on IG: @dr.richie.kirwan *** Chapters: 00:00 - What are nuts? 01:32 - Nut nutrients 02:53 - Reducing cholesterol 05:00 - What are polyphenols? 06:00 - Plant sterols 07:20 - Heart health 08:00 - High in calories 10:06 - Any more nut questions? *********************************
View Video Transcript
0:00
hazelnuts cashews walnuts pistachios are
0:04
not the health food that we've been led
0:06
to believe let's talk about that
0:12
how's it going guys my name is Richie
0:14
Kerwin and today we're going to talk
0:15
about nuts and how they might affect
0:17
Health we'll talk about all the
0:20
different nutrients they contain and
0:21
what effect those nutrients can have on
0:23
your body we'll also talk about some
0:26
little known info on nut digestion and
0:28
how it might relate to body weight as
0:31
always I want to point out that I won't
0:33
be telling you whether or not you should
0:34
be eating nuts in all of my videos my
0:37
goal is to help explain some of the
0:39
science behind different aspects of diet
0:41
and nutrition my goal is to help you
0:43
understand how different diets foods and
0:45
nutrients affect your health so you make
0:48
up your own mind about what to do with
0:50
that information
0:52
let's get started so what even is Enos
0:55
well things get complicated straight
0:57
away because a knot is a fruit with a
0:59
hard outer shell around an edible kernel
1:02
so technically that includes things like
1:04
hazelnuts chestnuts and acorns but
1:06
doesn't include almonds pecans
1:08
pistachios walnuts or Brazil nuts but
1:11
for the purpose of this video to make
1:13
things easier I'm going to include all
1:15
these types of nuts together as a group
1:17
called tree nuts I'm also going to
1:19
include peanuts which are actually
1:21
legumes like beans and peas all of these
1:23
nuts have some very similar nutrients
1:25
that make them have similar health
1:27
effects
1:29
so what are these nutrients that nuts
1:31
contain and what effects do they have
1:33
well first let's start with probably the
1:36
main nutrient in knots and if you said
1:38
protein you're actually wrong nuts do
1:41
have much more protein than other plant
1:43
foods and that amount varies between
1:45
nuts
1:46
for example almonds have about 28 grams
1:48
of protein per 100 grams and cashews
1:50
have 18 grams
1:52
the protein in nuts comes with a lot of
1:54
calories though so using nuts as your
1:57
main source of protein may not be a
1:59
great idea if you're also trying to keep
2:01
your calories controlled
2:02
you might wonder why the calories and
2:04
nuts are so high and it's because of the
2:06
primary macronutrient in nuts which is
2:09
fat so that's right nuts are an
2:11
excellent source of Whole Food fats and
2:14
many of the health benefits of nuts come
2:16
from the fact that nuts are especially
2:17
high in unsaturated fats nuts like
2:20
almonds hazelnuts cashews pistachios and
2:23
macadamia nuts are great sources of
2:25
monounsaturated fats and nuts like
2:27
walnuts peanuts and Brazil nuts also
2:30
contain useful polyunsaturated fats in
2:33
fact walnuts are one of the few common
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whole foods that are good sources of
2:37
omega-3 fats which have a lot of
2:40
beneficial effects on brain and heart
2:42
health
2:42
on the other hand coconuts are one of
2:45
the few nuts that are high in saturated
2:46
fats and that's why they can have some
2:49
different health effects compared to
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treatments
2:51
so why are unsaturated fats so
2:53
beneficial well come compared to
2:55
saturated fats unsaturated fats help to
2:57
reduce cholesterol levels
3:00
high blood cholesterol levels are
3:01
associated with a greater risk of heart
3:03
disease which is the number one killer
3:05
on Earth in one meta-analysis which is a
3:08
combination of results from a number of
3:10
similar studies researchers found that
3:12
one serving of nuts per day which is
3:14
about 28 grams was able to significantly
3:17
reduce total and LDL cholesterol as well
3:20
as Apple lipoprotein B which is the
3:23
carrier protein for cholesterol in the
3:24
blood now that cholesterol lowering
3:27
effect is probably not just caused by
3:29
the unsaturated fats and nuts but we'll
3:31
be able to get to those other nutrients
3:33
in a minute
3:34
another major benefit of unsaturated
3:36
fats in nuts is Improvement of glycemic
3:38
control there is evidence that says that
3:41
diets higher in unsaturated fats seem to
3:43
be associated with a lower risk of
3:44
diabetes and this might be because
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excess intake of saturated fats can lead
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to reduced sensitivity to insulin the
3:51
hormone that we use to help lower our
3:53
blood glucose levels unsaturated fats
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don't seem to reduce insulin sensitivity
3:57
as much as saturated fats not
4:00
surprisingly large epidemiological
4:02
Studies have shown that greater nut
4:04
intake is associated with better insulin
4:06
sensitivity and lower glucose on insulin
4:09
levels even when accounting for body
4:11
weight which can have a major effect on
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glycemic control
4:14
another major nutrient provided by nuts
4:17
is fiber with just 30 grams of almonds
4:20
one of the richest sources of fiber
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providing almost four grams of fiber
4:23
itself
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nuts provide both soluble and intoluble
4:26
fiber and the effects of soluble fiber
4:28
include learning cholesterol levels and
4:30
acting as a Prebiotic a healthy food
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source for our gut microbiome
4:35
fiber lowers cholesterol by helping us
4:37
to excrete excess cholesterol from our
4:39
digestive system by binding with the
4:41
cholesterol and preventing it from being
4:43
reabsorbed fiber is also really
4:45
important for helping to keep us regular
4:47
and it can also help improve glycemic
4:49
control probably by reducing the speed
4:51
at which carbohydrates get absorbed
4:53
after eating okay so unsaturated fat and
4:56
fiber are probably the two most commonly
4:58
known beneficial nutrients and nuts but
5:00
it doesn't stop there nuts also contain
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a big variety of polyphenols with each
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different nut containing a different mix
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of polyphenols in different quantities
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polyphenols are a group of plant or
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phytochemicals these are substances that
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aren't essential nutrients as in we
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don't need them to survive but they can
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have beneficial effects on our health
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remember something doesn't have to be
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essential to be good for you polyphenols
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are an absolutely massive group of
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substances and they have a lot of
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different effects in the human body one
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of the ways they seem to work is by
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increasing our body's own production of
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antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
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compounds helping to lower markers of
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inflammation in the body
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polyphenols have also been shown to
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improve endothelial function the
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endothelium is the lining of cells
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within our blood vessels and the health
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of your endothelium is related to your
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risk of cardiovascular disease node
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consumption can also lead to better
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production of nitric oxide in our blood
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which helps blood vessels to expand and
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may help lower blood pressure
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nuts are also a great source of plant or
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phytosterols these are substances that
6:03
resemble cholesterol and that's how they
6:05
have their effect on human health
6:06
because they resemble cholesterol they
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compete with cholesterol for absorption
6:11
in our gut and this helps to reduce the
6:13
amount of cholesterol we reabsorb
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lowering our blood cholesterol levels
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nuts can also be a useful source of
6:19
minerals like magnesium and potassium
6:20
deficiencies in magnesium in particular
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might lead to a greater risk of high
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blood pressure and poor glycemic control
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another example of a mineral is selenium
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a mineral that many people can be
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deficient in due to low levels of
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selenium in soil around the world
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selenium is essential for helping us to
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produce the antioxidant enzyme
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glutathione peroxidase just two Brazil
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nuts a day are enough to significantly
6:43
increase blood selenium levels as well
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as glutathione peroxidized activity in
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the body
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so I've mentioned a lot of different
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bioactive nutrients that can be found in
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nuts and I've mentioned their health
6:53
effects but it's also worth bearing in
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mind many nutrients can have similar
6:56
functions and work together with other
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nutrients to lead to Greater overall
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health effects
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this is why the mix of nutrients in nuts
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unsaturated fats fiber phytosterols
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minerals and other phytonutrients might
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be able to work together to provide
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useful health benefits for people who
7:14
eat them it's especially in terms of
7:16
heart and cardiovascular health
7:19
in fact the same nutrients and nuts that
7:21
cause improvements in cardiovascular
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function like unsaturated fats fiber
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phyo sterols antioxidant minerals and
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polyphenols may also help with the
7:28
production of brain or cognitive
7:30
function that's because many of the ways
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that nuts protect the heart like
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regulation of blood flow protecting
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against the formation of arterial
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plaques reduction of oxidative stress
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and inflammation also protect against
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neurodegeneration or loss of brain
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function
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now you'd probably remember that I
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mentioned earlier that nuts are high in
7:50
calories so you'd probably be surprised
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to hear that nuts also seem to be useful
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for helping people to lose or maintain
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weight how exactly could that be
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well there are a few ways this might
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happen one of those is by improving
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satiety or keeping us from feeling
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hungry
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researchers aren't completely sure why
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nuts are so good for helping to control
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hunger but nuts do contain fiber add
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protein which are both known to have
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effects on reducing appetite but another
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feature of nuts in particular might help
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explain why they can be so useful in
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weight loss and weight maintenance
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you see the energy are the calories that
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are contained within nuts are probably
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not completely absorbed when we eat them
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in one study where participants were
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given different types of peanuts to eat
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either whole peanuts peanut butter or
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peanut oil researchers found that almost
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18 of the fat from the whole peanuts was
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lost in the participants too that's
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another word for poop
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seven percent of the fat was lost from
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the peanut butter and less than five
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percent was lost from the people who
8:51
were given peanut oil
8:53
in another study participants were given
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up to 200 grams of almonds per day and
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the amount of fat in their stool
8:59
increased from about three percent to 10
9:02
percent
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and another study with almonds showed
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that about 32 percent fewer calories get
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absorbed from whole almonds compared to
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almond butter that's a massive
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difference
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the reason for this is that the cell
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wall of nuts is particularly tough to
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digest by the enzymes we have in our gut
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that means some of the cells in the nuts
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never get broken down and don't release
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their energy or their fat for absorption
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and some of it just gets pooped out the
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more processed than that is the easier
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the fat and calories get absorbed and
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that's why nut Butters show more fat
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absorption than whole nuts which we have
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to chew a lot to break down
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unfortunately that means that we don't
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get as much of the benefits or all of
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the nutrients from Whole nuts because we
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can't absorb them all
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but that said a lot of research on the
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benefits of nuts is carried out with
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whole nuts and they still show plenty of
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health benefits so there you have it a
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summary of some of the most important
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nutrients in nuts and how they can
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benefit health and weight maintenance
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but what do you think are not something
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you eat regularly and do you eat whole
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nuts or Not Butters
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let me know in the comments below and
10:07
remember to like And subscribe to my
10:09
protein YouTube channel for more great
10:10
evidence-based nutrition information
10:14
[Music]
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