Anyone else find themselves reaching for something sweet when energy levels are low and dinner is still three hours away? I know I do.
But a new study, conducted by researchers at the University of Florida, is suggesting that a handful of almonds could be the answer.
According to the university website, for the experiment scientists looked at the effect that the consumption of almonds can have on a person’s diet and health.
They took 28 parent-child pairs. The parents were told to eat 1.5 ounces of whole almonds every day while the children were told to eat half an ounce (or the equivalent in almond butter).
Using a Healthy Eating Index, it was found that almond consumers increased their protein intake and decreased the amount of empty calories.
A doctoral student in the UF/IFAS food science and human nutrition department who conducted the study, Alyssa Burns, said that they believed that both adults and kids replaced salty and processed snacks with almonds.
She added: “The habits you have when you are younger are carried into adulthood, so if a parent is able to incorporate almonds or different healthy snacks into a child’s diet, it’s more likely that the child will choose those snacks later on in life.”
One of the challenges that the experts faced was preventing kids from getting bored of almonds. Others just didn’t like the taste of them.
Even still, they are a healthier alternative to a chocolate biscuit (although I’ll admit I won’t be cutting those out completely).
The findings were published in the December issue of the Journal of Nutrition Research.
