Nuts that taste as good as they are for you!

If you pay any attention at all to health and nutrition research in the news, you've probably heard that nuts are good for you. And this is one bit of information from the mainstream media you can actually trust. Nuts are nutritious; they provide protein, fiber, healthy fats, and vitamins and minerals. People who eat nuts regularly have been found to have lower rates of heart disease, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes. I would call all nuts healthy, but walnuts do have a bit of an edge on other nuts- they are the only ones that contain omega-3 fatty acids.

A lot of people avoid nuts because they are high in calories. I think this is somewhat misguided, and a good example of throwing out the baby with the bath water. It is important not to eat large portions of nuts if you are watching your weight, but it is much better to eat small quantities than to not eat them at all. Observational studies have consistently found that people who eat more nuts actually tend to have lower BMIs. Although paradoxical, this may be partially due to the satiating effects of nuts. In other words, nuts suppress hunger and thus may reduce total calorie intake over the course of a day.

So far, it sounds like nuts would make a perfect, healthful snack. And if nutrition is the only thing that matters, then that would be true. However, most of us think about taste first and nutrition second (even me!). Now, it's not that nuts don't taste good... but let's face it: they don't taste great. Pure, unadulterated nuts are pretty bland. I have long incorporated nuts into my diet, but it has been more out of a sense of obligation or self-righteousness than real desire. This is with the exception of almond butter, of course, which is like sex on a spoon (see my previous ode to AB here).

But in the past couple of months, I have noticed a trend in the snack food industry. There seem to be more and more jazzed-up nut products on the shelves. My feelings towards most of them are mixed. My old airport convenience store/gas station standby is Planters honey roasted cashews. These are quite tasty and only have a few extra grams of sugar in each serving. But I've grown bored with them. Blue Diamond has a new line of flavored almonds that sound like dessert: vanilla bean, cinnamon brown sugar, and dark chocolate. I tried all of these, and was a little disappointed. They were good enough, but they still lacked a certain something.

Then, in the span of a few weeks, I came across two products that HAD that something: YumNuts toasted coconut cashews and Sahale Snacks pomegranate vanilla cashews. I found the YumNuts (gotta love that name) cashews at a Whole Foods Market and instantly fell in love. These cashews have a light coating of sweet, subtle, coconut fairy dust. Eating them was a completely new experience and nothing like any other cashews I'd had before. I thought this was as good as nuts could get.

But THEN, I discovered Sahale Snacks' cashews at my local Starbucks. I was on my way out for drinks with some friends and it was a couple of hours after dinner, so I needed a little something in my stomach. My husband and I stopped at Starbucks so he could load up on caffeine and I could grab something- presumably unsatisfying- to eat. I bought these, fully expecting to have the same disappointing experience I had had with the vanilla almonds. Instead, I discovered that a healthy snack could taste as good as candy. I could not stop eating them. The combination of flavors was perfectly delicious and complementary to the cashews. This product does contain 6g of sugar per serving, but this is is still far less than any other snack food that would taste as good.

Both of these brands have a number of other varieties of nuts, but I have not yet tried them. If you are interested, check out their websites to view their other products:

Yumnuts Naturals

Sahale Snacks