Brain snack 4X more nutritious than salmon

So you’re interested in looking into your eating habits are you? Let’s dive into the champion of travel snacks, nuts. Around 40% of Americans regularly eat nuts either out of convenience or by the doctor's orders. But which varieties are healthy for you and for the planet? Let’s explore.

In today’s issue:

• Health: Shelling out knowledge on fats

• Feature Story: How resilient is your favorite nut?

• Early Adopters: It’s not almonds…

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

Thanks for tuning in to learn about small changes that make a big difference. That being said, consider professional advice (not me) when changing your lifestyle.

HEALTH

Nuts come in all shapes and sizes, but their healthy fats unite them all. When you think of the word “fat” you probably imagine a greasy burger from your favorite fast food joint, but there is also a healthier meaning. Without fat you wouldn’t be able to effectively absorb fat-soluble nutrients commonly found in nuts. This video provides a great overview of how your body uses different types of fat.

Without nuts you could expect a negative impact to a long-list of normal brain functions like repairing brain cells, improving memory & enhancing cognitive ability. For this reason nuts, and the healthy fats they provide, are so important for our diet.

While nuts are a nutritious snack, they should be enjoyed in moderation as their nutritional content varies widely between different varieties. Here are just a few examples:

1. Pistachios have 2X more protein than pecans

2. Cashews have 2X more saturated “bad” fats than almonds

3. Walnuts have 3X more polyunsaturated “healthy” fats than peanuts

FEATURE STORY

How resilient is your favorite nut?

The 6 most popular nuts; almonds, cashews, peanuts, pecans, pistachios & walnuts each have their own benefits to health and the environment. While you may already have a preference of which nut you like the best, you probably haven’t thought about the supply chain of your nut of choice… until now.

Which nuts are grown closest to where I live?

It depends on where in the US you live. All of the most popular nuts are grown within the US, with the exception of cashews. If you’re eating an almond, pistachio or walnut, odds are it came from California.

If you’re eating a peanut or pecan, they most-likely were grown in the south from states like Georgia, Texas or Alabama.

Close to 85% of imported cashews comes from Vietnam & India, however these countries also import cashews from other countries around the world.

For this reason, almonds, peanuts, pecans, pistachios and walnuts are great options to minimize transport-related greenhouse gas emissions.

Which nut uses water the most effectively?

Our champion of water usage is the peanut with 550 gallons per pound. Peanuts use the same amount of water as a pound of chicken but with 30% more protein.

The biggest loser is the almond which uses 1,900 gallons of water to produce a pound of nuts. For comparison, a pound of beef, one of the most energy intensive foods, uses 2,100 gallons of water. The remaining nuts (cashews, pecans, pistachios & walnuts) all use between 1,100 - 1,300 gallons to produce a pound of nuts.

Which nut uses land the most effectively?

The walnut takes the top spot for land usage due to its large trees which produce 110 pounds per tree and when farmed industrially produce 5,500 pounds per acre.

Peanuts yield 4,000 pounds per acre which is dramatically higher than the 2,500 pounds per acre that pistachios and almonds produce.

The pecan and the cashew are the loser when it comes to land usage where pecans produce 1,500 pounds per acre and cashews produce 500 pounds per acre.

Which nut is the hardiest?

The hardiest is the pistachio which can adapt to different soil types, are drought-tolerant & are fairly pest resistant. The pecan is also hardy due to their frost tolerance, pest resistance & ability to adapt to different soil types. However, pecan trees require a unique planting pattern involving different tree varieties that reduces their hardiness.

The remaining nuts (almond, cashew, peanut, walnut) are more vulnerable because they have specific water and soil needs that are harder to control with a fluctuating climate.

EARLY ADOPTERS

Early adopters are using nuts to aid in their transition to a plant-based diet. The protein and fat that they would traditionally get from animal products, they can now get from nuts.

Part of this adoption took place in the 1990’s with the almond. This is when the Almond Board of California laid the groundwork for almonds to evolve into a widespread snack, as well as a substitute for milk & flour.

Through decades of marketing campaigns, almonds evolved into a premium product. This allowed farmers, distributors and retailers to make higher profit margins compared to the popular peanut. However, peanuts remain a leader in efficient use of resources even outside of the nut industry.

In addition to using less resources compared to salmon, peanuts also provide 6g more protein, 8g more dietary fiber and 4X more unsaturated “healthy” fats.

Ultimately your favorite nut is still up to you. If you’re looking for:

1. Less land & less water → Peanuts

2. Hardiest plant → Pistachios

TIGHT 5

• Pistachios: have nearly 3X more potassium than bananas.

• Peanuts: consume 70% less water than almonds.

• Almonds: are considered the healthiest nut due to their nutrient-density, vitamins, antioxidants and minerals.

• Walnuts: have 4X more Omega-3 & 146X more Omega-6 fatty acids than salmon.

• Pecan: trees can live for 300 years.