3 Nuts We're Nuts About: Almonds, Pecans, & Walnuts

If you're familiar with our grain-free granola, you know that we have a thing for nuts. Most traditional granolas are made with oats and feature questionable ingredients like canola oil, cane sugar, soy lecithin, and other additives that can diminish or completely ruin the nutritional profile. So instead, we rely on hearty nuts and seeds to give the look and feel of granola without the heavy carb load and inevitable sugar crash.  Nuts are nutrient dense foods that have been a regular constituent of mankind’s diet since pre-agricultural times. They contain all major macronutrients: protein, carbohydrate, and fat, making them the perfect snack to turn to for energy and satiety.  But like any variety of food, not all nuts are created equally. You'll notice we use a few of our favorites to craft almost every Paleonola flavor: Almonds, walnuts, and pecans. Read on for some of the reasons why we consistently turn to these three.

Almonds – Considered the most nutritionally dense nut, almonds offer the most overall nutrients per calorie and per ounce. They're rich in Vitamin E which can reduce inflammation, and are packed with protein, fiber, and healthy monounsaturated fats. Almonds are also a good source of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, and manganese.

Walnuts – This heart healthy nut has the highest content of α-linolenic acid (ALA), one of the more anti-inflammatory fatty acids, of all edible plants(4). Recent clinical trials have shown that diets enriched with walnuts can actually lower non-HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein B. They pack a punch of protein, Vitamin B6, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, and manganese. The polyunsaturated fat (PUFA) content is high, but should be okay in the context of a diet low in seed oils and other sources of processed, refined PUFAs.

Pecans – Why do we seem to reserve pecans for dessert applications? In our opinion, this might be the most underrated and underutilized nut. They have been shown to acutely increase antioxidant capacity and lower LDL oxidation , as well as improve the lipid profile in healthy men and women. Turn to pecans for a healthy dose of fiber, magnesium, phosphorous, copper, zinc, and manganese. A little bit goes a long way!

We're proud to use these nutritional powerhouses in every flavor of our grain-free granola!