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Please Celebrate! Today Is National Almond Day

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AlmondsToday, February 16th, is national almond day, and a good reason to remind ourselves how much we love almonds.

A native of the Mediterranean, the almond tree has successfully acclimated to California, where most of America’s almonds are sourced. The US is the world’s largest producer of almonds – with over 1 million tons a year!

Almonds are a heart healthy snack – despite the fact that they contains fats. A serving of almonds contains 14 grams of total fat, but only one of them is saturated. The rest are heart healthy unsaturated fats. Almonds are an excellent source of vitamin E and magnesium and provide potassium, calcium, and iron as well.

A serving of almonds is one ounce, approximately 23 pieces accounting for 165 calories. But updated studies suggest that those 23 pieces are only 130 calories. Researchers explain that something in the fiber structure of the almond causes less of the fat in the almonds to be absorbed in the body. Woohoo!

In any case, when choosing almonds, opt for unsalted. Buy in bulk to save money!

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  • malachite2

    If you like almonds, then please write your Congresspeople, EPA, et al re: banning the use of neonicotinoids, which have been pretty much banned by the EU (or the use substantially restricted) because that’s one of the pesticides that’s thought to be at least part of the reason for bee die off. Efforts to reduce use in the US have met w/resistance from those who manufacture them and some of the users.

    Bees pollinate the almond blossoms.

    Some of the spot application flea controls for pets are this class of pesticide. If you have pets, you might want to think about switching–there are alternatives.

    And if you buy almonds, buy the ones grown in the US, not China (although I believe the ones grown in China are cheaper).

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