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Almonds · Prunus dulcis
Photo: (c) Ryan McMinds, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · via iNaturalist
Seeds & Nuts
Almonds
Prunus dulcis
An almond is not a nut. It is the seed inside a fruit, a close cousin of the peach, and the shell you crack is the stone.
Benefits
The harmful kind falls, and it falls furthest in people whose level is already high.
What It Is Known For
A widespread habit with a lot said about it. What was measured in the trials was almonds eaten as they come.
Most of it is water, and the almond content is low enough that the cholesterol work does not carry across to it.
Weight was measured in these trials and it is not what happened. That does not make almonds free — they are dense and they are easy to keep eating.
The fall is real and it is small, and not every analysis of the trials finds it.
Key Active Compounds
Eaten as it comes, which is what was measured.
What a blanched almond has had taken off.
How to Take It / Use It
Eat about forty-five grams a day, a generous handful, every day rather than in bursts.
Cautions
They are the same species and a different variety, and they carry a compound sweet almonds do not.
Almond is one of the tree nuts that causes severe reactions, and there is no small safe amount for someone who reacts.
A whole almond is the wrong shape and the wrong size for a child under four.
Where It Comes From
The almond came from central and western Asia and moved along the trade routes into the Mediterranean, where most of the old groves are. The wild ancestor is bitter; the sweet almond is the one people kept.
How We Choose It
We check every product so you don't have to. A almonds only makes our list if:
- Whole almonds, not almond products. What was measured was the nut. A carton of almond milk carries a handful of almonds across the whole container.
- Skin on. Blanched almonds have had the brown layer taken off, and that layer is part of what you are buying.
- Unsalted, and nothing coated. Honey-roasted, chocolate-covered and salted are a different food.
- Sweet almond, and only sweet almond. Bitter almonds are sold for flavoring in some countries and they are not an ingredient for eating.
If no product meets these standards, we don't list one. No exceptions for affiliates.
See our picks
Sources3
- Almond consumption and risk factors for cardiovascular disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials — 18 trials, 837 participants. Meta-analysis of randomized trials
- Almonds have a neutral effect on serum lipid profiles: a meta-analysis of randomized trials. The earlier meta-analysis that found no effect
- Bitter almond. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Record of the difference between the two varieties