I first had this argument just a couple of years into my PT career.
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And as you can see from the picture, for every 100g plain pea nuts you get 26g protein.
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Which is only just a few grams short of a chicken breast for the same weight.
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Which sounds great! Good protein source.
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But surely a better way to look at the viability of nuts as a protein source is to look at the kcals of energy you also consume when eating them.
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In this case, you ingest just under 22kcals for every gram of protein recieved, whereas you get 5kcals for every gram of protein from the chicken breast.
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And that is because for 1 every gram of protein you get from a nut you also consume around 2 grams of fat.
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Making them very calorific.
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And that’s fine. They are high fat, near on 50%, and very nutritious.
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But were not talking about the nutritional density. Both are nutritious.
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This is a comment on the efficiency of nuts as a protein source. Not on how nourishing and healthy they are.
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I eat 200g protein per day. If that was all to come from nuts I’d be eating 4330kcals. From chicken breast I’d be eating 986kcals.
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In my opinion, nuts are a great nourishing fat source first, with a little side line in protein.
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But should always be considered as a fat source as they are primarily made up of fat and therefore gram for gram very calorific.
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We gain fat mass when we over eat, calorie surplus, even if that’s from healthy food.
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Nuts have the ability to add hundreds of calories to you diet if you eat alot of them, which means it’s easier to over eat and gain weight.
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Therefore, be aware of the amount you are eating and consider them a source of fat, not protein, as there are much more calorie efficient ways of getting your protein requirement than relying on nuts.
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Dan
Target Active Fitness is a Tewkesbury based Gym, Personal Training Studio and Nutrition Centre. Teaching first rate, no nonsense, gimmick-free Exercise & Wellbeing.
