Anyone that knows airfare is aware…we’re a bunch of nuts. Because nuts—as we’ve explained here and here—are considered by nearly every accredited health organization to be both beneficial to overall health and widely underconsumed: fewer than 10% of Americans are regular consumers of any tree nuts.

Some examples: one review showed that although nuts are high in calories and fat, regular nut consumers do not gain weight. On the contrary, most people who add nuts to their diet lose weight and body fat. Another review of the best studies available showed the same outcomes from increased nut consumption related to body weight and also found benefits across the board, from heart health to inflammation.

Today’s focus, ironically, isn’t even a nut. We’re talkin’ almonds.

It turns out the almonds we eat are actually the seeds of the almond tree and are wrapped in…a fruit. 🤯 Nuts or not, the real questions are, what do almonds do for us, and do they have any downsides?

Almonds are particularly healthy

Almonds, science tells us, have specific and significant benefits over other nuts, starting with our bellies. A recent review of several studies comparing nuts showed that almonds are the only nuts that lead to modest loss in both bodyweight and fat mass when consumed regularly. Another study simply suggested people eat an extra 350 calories worth of almonds (about 50 almonds) each day .

Almonds are also specifically beneficial for cardiovascular health. One review showed that about 42 grams (40 almonds) per day significantly decreased LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, improved heart health, and lowered blood pressure. Another massive study in the United Kingdom showed regular almond consumers to have increased diet quality overall.

In addition to keeping bellies small, almonds also give a boost our large intestines—the organ hosting billions of bacteria that has been called the new frontier for health research. Almond intake was linked with improvement in the diversity and richness the “good” bacteria in the large intestine.

One researcher even concluded, “Almonds are a premier healthy snack for precision nutrition diet plans.”

New almond snack on the way

Our only knock against almighty almonds is that they can get…a little boring. So we’ve been searching for a way to change up the taste of almond snacks without cheating like most popular options do, by adding sugars or sweeteners or frying them in crappy oils.

We already have few terrific almond options, including the Sprouted Salt & Vinegar Almonds and Sprouted Pizzalmonds from the team at Healthy Truth in Walpole, Mass.

We didn’t stop there, and we’ve found a new, creative almond option to unveil for your snacking pleasure. Hang onto your seats, because next week’s new snack introduction is really something to go nuts for.