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seeking nut recommendations


Greg Scott

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I think some CRS members spoke favorably of nuts.com, so I thought I'd give it a try.

 

Can someone recommend a few kinds of nuts that would provide varied nutrients, and are not too pricey?

 

I recently learned here that Brazil nuts might not be a wise choice. My concern is that if I choose several kinds of nuts, I might inadvertently select several kinds that overlap too much in nutrients.

 

Thank you.

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Greg,

 

Zeta has done some fine work recently putting together a table of the nutrients in most nuts and seeds, and led a very useful discussion of the various pros and cons of different nuts/seeds. You should check out that thread for detailed discussions and recommendations:

 

https://www.crsociety.org/topic/11289-nuts-which-are-best/

 

I know you like to keep things simple.

 

If I were to pick the four nuts/seeds I think most healthful, I'd choose walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts and (fresh ground) flaxseeds. And as a rough rule of thumb, I'd eat them in about equal quantities.

 

But you should DEFINITELY run your diet through CRON-O-Meter to see where you stand, and adjust your nuts/seeds, and everything else accordingly to makes sure you aren't deficient in important nutrients. While I'm giving you advice, I'd recommend aiming for around 15-20% calories from fat (since it sounds like you are less than that now), with an Omega-6:Omega-3 ratio of somewhere in the neighborhood of 3:1. And target around 12-15% calories from protein while you at it...

 

Back to nuts & seeds and Nuts.com. Just yesterday I happened to place a big order with them. Below is what I bought. A few notes of explanation:

 

Since I eat the exact same (one) meal every day, I like to include a lot of variety to make sure I'm get a wide variety of nutrients, and not getting toxic levels of bad stuff (e.g. contaminants) by eating too much of any one item. Hence the many varieties of seeds in my order. From our discussions on other threads, this "maximize variety" strategy is apparently not a policy you (yet) subscribe to!

 

There aren't any of the "big three" nuts in this order (walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts) because I have plenty of those in my freezer at the moment. I often get my walnuts and almonds at CostCo (or now walnuts from Haag Farm thanks to Zeta's recommendation). Hazelnuts I usually buy from Nuts.com.

 

All of the items are sold by the pound. The ones with the lines that start with '2' are two pound orders, so cut the dollars listed on those in half to get dollars per pound, in case you are price conscious.

 

The pecan pie isn't for me - I promise! It was the free gift this month to Nuts.com newsletter subscribers for orders over $70. My family and I plan to bring it to a Thanksgiving party in a couple weeks. I don't plan to partake in it...

 

2 Organic Pepitas (No Shell Pumpkin Seeds) $13.98

2 Raw Sunflower Seeds (No Shell) $5.38

2 Chia Seeds $15.98

2 Flax Seed $5.98

2 Hemp Seeds $7.98

1 Organic Cacao Beans (Peeled) $18.99

1 Organic Cacao Powder $11.99

1 Ceylon Cinnamon Sticks $13.99

 

1 Oh My! Pecan Pie 8" pecan pie - Free Item!

 

Shipping - FedEx Home Delivery $7.97

Total $102.24

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I think some CRS members spoke favorably of nuts.com, so I thought I'd give it a try.

 

Others, like me, spoke against Nuts.com, recommending Living Nutz instead, on the basis of several criteria:

 

1) Living Nutz has better prices, aside from shipping (if you order more than a few lbs. of nuts, Living Nutz should be cheaper).

 

2) Nuts.com seems to have worse quality control (based on limited sampling, however).

 

3) Nuts.com sells poison (sugary foods, roasted nuts, etc.) along with non-poison (raw nuts) (I'm being tendentious, I know), whereas Living Nutz specializes in organic, raw, and sprouted nuts.

 

 

Can someone recommend a few kinds of nuts that would provide varied nutrients, and are not too pricey?

 

See Dean's reply for link to other discussion. (Remember, searching the forum is your friend!)

 

 

If I were to pick the four nuts/seeds I think most healthful, I'd choose walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts and (fresh ground) flaxseeds. And as a rough rule of thumb, I'd eat them in about equal quantities.

 

Good choices, though flaxseeds can't be soaked (I gather), which means putting up with antinutrients (note: 3rd post on nuts: how to eat/prepare, coming, at some point!)

 
I have a bunch of questions about why you don't view other nuts as just as good, but it will make more sense to pose those in connection with my third nut post.

 

Hazelnuts I usually buy from Nuts.com.

 

Hazelnuts is where (based on one purchase from nuts.com, and two from Living Nutz), I saw the greatest difference in quality. Many of the hazelnuts from Nuts.com were bad. Important: I didn't notice this until after I soaked them.

 

See update to "Best source for nuts" thread for more.

 

Zeta

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Greg,

 

Zeta has done some fine work recently putting together a table of the nutrients in most nuts and seeds, and led a very useful discussion of the various pros and cons of different nuts/seeds. You should check out that thread for detailed discussions and recommendations:

 

https://www.crsociety.org/topic/11289-nuts-which-are-best/

Great work. That could come in handy sometime.

 

Dean wrote:

 

I know you like to keep things simple.

 

If I were to pick the four nuts/seeds I think most healthful, I'd choose walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts and (fresh ground) flaxseeds. And as a rough rule of thumb, I'd eat them in about equal quantities.

You've got me pegged. Thank you for for this recommendation. It's exactly what I'd hoped for.

 

Dean wrote:

But you should DEFINITELY run your diet through CRON-O-Meter to see where you stand, and adjust your nuts/seeds, and everything else accordingly to makes sure you aren't deficient in important nutrients. While I'm giving you advice, I'd recommend aiming for around 15-20% calories from fat (since it sounds like you are less than that now), with an Omega-6:Omega-3 ratio of somewhere in the neighborhood of 3:1. And target around 12-15% calories from protein while you at it...

I shall do that. I have signed up with CRON-O-Meter, even using my real email account. You are correct that I am getting less than 15% fat. I once noticed dry skin, so I upped the dosage of flaxseed meal and the problem disappeared. I've never kept track of calories, but I guess that will change once I start using CRON-O-Meter.

 

 

Dean wrote:

Back to nuts & seeds and Nuts.com. Just yesterday I happened to place a big order with them. Below is what I bought. A few notes of explanation:

Thank you for all the info you provided in the remainder of the post.

 

Dean wrote:

From our discussions on other threads, this "maximize variety" strategy is apparently not a policy you (yet) subscribe to!

I would be happy with a few fruits daily. I've always added a variety of raw vegetables (reluctantly) to my daily fare to ward off evil consequences of a pure fruitarian regimen. It looks like I'll have to stick with the veggies. For completeness, I'll add that I've always sought a vegan B12 source, and added a few processed items such as flaxseed meal, wheat germ, or brewer's yeast.

 

Thanks for this great reply Dean.

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Great work. That could come in handy sometime. 

 

Thanks Greg.

 

Just curious: why isn't it handy now, in your current decision? I wanted to create a thread with info (even if it's elsewhere, but it should be only a few clicks away) that would help people make decisions about which nuts to eat.

 

Is it too much info?

 

Should it be formatted in some other way?

 

I think the powers that be really should create a wiki! Then we'd have the ability to have updateable lists of various things that would also be one click away.

 

Zeta

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Great work. That could come in handy sometime.

 

 

Thanks Greg.

 

Just curious: why isn't it handy now, in your current decision? I wanted to create a thread with info (even if it's elsewhere, but it should be only a few clicks away) that would help people make decisions about which nuts to eat.

 

Hi Zeta,

 

I applaud your work, and my failure to use it is based more on my impatience than on a defect in your spreadsheet. In answer to your query I'll run through my thoughts upon looking at the google drive webpage:

 

1. Three files, so I first read the note, and thought it useful. But when clicking on the "thread" link I was directed to a very long thread that I had no time to read. So the link (and hence the note file) was not useful to (impatient) me.

2. There was no mention in the note of why there were 2 xls files, so I clicked on both several times to see what the difference was. I gave up comparing and concluded it might have been a font size difference, to accommodate different monitor resolutions. By now I was ready to bail out, but I persisted.

3. On the spreadsheet I arbitrarily chose, there were several colors and no legend to tell me what they signified. Does red mean that the item is a bad idea (doesn't meet RDA, or is actually harmful? in price column,perhaps red means too pricey compared with most items). Most of the nuts I was considering had red in the Ω-6:Ω-3 column, so I was not encouraged to add them to my shopping list. Some had red entries in a column that meant nothing to me, such as "Met:prot".

4. Much of the info is too detailed for a simpleton like me. I don't know enough to care about columns like "FA12:0", which I infer has something to do with Fatty Acids.

 

So, for a simpleton, a recommendation from Dean along the lines of "If I were to pick the four nuts/seeds I think most healthful, I'd choose walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts and (fresh ground) flaxseeds. And as a rough rule of thumb, I'd eat them in about equal quantities." is more actionable than a spreadsheet. This of course hinges on the credibility of the source. I think any reasonable person can see that Dean is very credible.

 

 

Zeta wrote:

Is it too much info?

 

Should it be formatted in some other way?

It is too much for a simpleton, but perhaps perfect for advanced users. I would never want data to be dumbed down to my level. The spreadsheet is probably a great resource for the gurus.

 

So please don't be discouraged just because one simpleton couldn't derive his list of 4 nuts from the spreadsheet.

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I think some CRS members spoke favorably of nuts.com, so I thought I'd give it a try.

 

Others, like me, spoke against Nuts.com, recommending Living Nutz instead, on the basis of several criteria:

 

1) Living Nutz has better prices, aside from shipping (if you order more than a few lbs. of nuts, Living Nutz should be cheaper).

 

2) Nuts.com seems to have worse quality control (based on limited sampling, however).

 

3) Nuts.com sells poison (sugary foods, roasted nuts, etc.) along with non-poison (raw nuts) (I'm being tendentious, I know), whereas Living Nutz specializes in organic, raw, and sprouted nuts.

 

 

Thanks Zeta.

 

I will take a look at Living Nutz in addition to Nuts.com.

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Great work. That could come in handy sometime.

 

 

Thanks Greg.

 

Just curious: why isn't it handy now, in your current decision? I wanted to create a thread with info (even if it's elsewhere, but it should be only a few clicks away) that would help people make decisions about which nuts to eat.

 

Is it too much info?

 

Should it be formatted in some other way?

 

I was taking Dean's recommendation (above) that I look at a posting you originated, namely Nuts: which are best?.

 

Dean was right that the type of info I was seeking is nicely laid out in your post. The following excerpt from your post is just right for me, including the formatting:

 

Now, some conclusions about the nuts/seeds/etc., taking items in decreasing order of goodness, according to criteria that matter to me:

 

Chia seeds. Amazing. Lots of ω-3; lots of minerals; lots of B vitamins; lots of fiber.

Downsides: some people worry about PUFAs and oxidation; Mn isn't very low;  I don't love the taste. See also Chia seed post.

How criteria adjustment would affect ranking: it wouldn't (aside from the concerns in the post about chia seeds, which I'm completely unconvinced by -- but need to investigate; could be a big "aside").

 

Walnuts. Very good. Lots of ω-3; low SFA; good amount of lots of minerals; lots of fiber; various phytochemicals that are likely healthy (not shown in CRON-O-Meter). Tasty.

Downsides: Some people (sort of including me) worry about PUFAs and oxidation; not a tiny amount of ω-6; Mn isn't very low; really hard to find good quality (see coming post about purchasing).

How criteria adjustment would affect ranking: If I could be certain about quality, and, to a lesser degree, if I thought Mn didn't matter much, I'd eat tons of these. TONS!

So I would like to thank you for that post, and also provide a response to your question "Should it be formatted in some other way?": the spreadsheet might be a gold mine for gurus, but for me your post Nuts: which are best? lays out the info beautifully.

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