I’m a nut lover!  They are my go-to snack because they provide healthy, satiating fats, contain fiber, pack a protein punch, and travel well.  I always carry some nuts in my purse for snack attack emergencies because you always want to be prepared for when the snack monster strikes.  But beware people… not all nuts are created equal!

ROASTED vs RAW

Most people enjoy roasted nuts because, admittedly, the flavor is better.  However, did you know that most roasted nuts are not roasted at all but fried?  EEK!  Yep, manufacturers buy inferior quality nuts, fry them in GMO oil such as canola, and then slap a “roasted” label on them.  This kind of stuff just pisses me off!  How can they get away with this and essentially pull the wool over the consumer’s eyes?  It may be unethical, but sadly it’s 100% legal.  This is our food industry in all of its glory; but that’s a topic for another day.  Back to nuts.

The only truly roasted nuts are the ones that say “dry roasted” on the label and do not have oil listed as an ingredient.  If you see oil on the ingredient list, you are getting a fried nut—PASS on it.  Then there’s roasted and salted nuts which gives them two strikes on the nutritional spectrum.  You don’t need the extra salt in your diet, so PASS on these as well.

Source: Prevention

In general, raw nuts are much better for you because they are in their natural state.  Remember, when choosing your food, you want it to be as “clean” as possible which means you want it to be whole, organic, unprocessed, and free of additives and preservatives.  Raw nuts beat their roasted counterparts in the iron, phosphorous, and magnesium departments, too.  That’s three more reasons to go for the raw varieties right there!  But wait… (insert ominous, spine-tingling movie music here–LOL), there is a major warning I have to tell you all about when it comes to raw nuts.  I literally just learned about it an hour ago and must share it with you before you run out to stock up on raw nuts.  If you were mad about roasted nuts being fried, wait ‘til you get a load of what raw nuts are put through and are still labeled raw!  More on this in part 2 of this series on nuts.