The Healthy Handful

About this episode In today's episode, we'll dive into some of the most common nut questions (and myths) we hear time and again, and explain where the truth really lies, based on the scientific evidence.  Should you avoid nuts if you're trying to lose weight? Can you eat nuts if you have diverticular disease? Raw or roasted – which is healthier? Do you need to activate nuts? And are nuts allowed o...

About this episode Consumers today are becoming increasingly more passionate about sustainability and provenance. In this episode, we speak with Macadamias Australia's Janelle Gerry, about her family's fascinating journey from tomatoes and zucchinis to macadamias! Today, with more than 200,000 macadamia trees, it has become the largest family-owned, vertically-integrated macadamia business in the...

About this episode In Australia, peanut allergy affects around 3% of the population. Because there is no cure, those with a peanut allergy must adhere to strict avoidance, which can affect quality of life. The good news is we now understand a lot more about trying to prevent food allergies developing, and much research is underway looking at possible treatments, including oral immunotherapy.  In t...

About this episode Nuts are high in fat and are energy dense. But does this mean regularly eating nuts leads to weight gain? No, and in fact research suggests the opposite - eating nuts is not linked to weight gain. One of the reasons why is that not all the kilojoules in nuts are absorbed.   We speak with Cassandra Nikodijevic on the fascinating results of her PhD research into the metabolisable...

About this episode This episode is a little bit different! In our 'best of 2021' episode, we're reflecting on the highlights from the year (from a nuts perspective, of course!). The Healthy Handful podcast host, Belinda Neville, speaks with colleague and Accredited Practising Dietitian Maree Hall, to uncover the best, the most popular and the most interesting research, news articles, podcasts and...

About this episode Habitual nut intake is linked with a range of benefits, including chronic disease prevention. But population consumption data suggests that most Australians are missing out on these benefits, with nut intakes chronically low. Research tells us there are a range of barriers to nut consumption, which may help explain the reasons why so many Australians fall short of the recommende...

About this episode Our latest podcast episode takes a fascinating look at the relationship between nuts and cognition. Decades of research supports the role of nuts for chronic disease prevention. But more recently, nuts have been associated with brain health and specifically, cognitive function. In this episode, we speak with researcher Dr Sze-Yen Tan from Australia's Deakin University to uncover...

About this episode The prevalence of food allergy is on the rise. In Australia, 10% of infants have an allergy – a rate which is alarmingly high. Approximately 3% of the population have peanut allergy and 1.6% have an allergy to tree nuts. The good news, is we now understand a lot more about trying to prevent food allergies developing, and much research is underway looking at possible treatments....

About this episode The largely plant-based Mediterranean diet is a well-studied dietary pattern. Research tells us that following a Mediterranean dietary pattern (MDP) can significantly reduce the risk of overall mortality, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Despite the convincing evidence for its benefits, it's not clear whether this dietary pattern is actually being recommended by Austr...

About this episode This episode forms part of a series on nuts and sustainability. We speak with an expert from one of the largest nut industries in Australia – the Almond Board of Australia. Find out about the Australian Sustainable Almonds Program, which has been progressing work on a broad range of sustainability issues for more than two decades. From water use to waste management, learn more a...

About this episode Australians today are much more knowledgeable than in the past when it comes to the environmental credentials of the food they eat. As the expectations on corporate responsibility increase, and as transparency becomes more prevalent, companies and industries recognise the need to act on sustainability. This episode forms part of a series on sustainability, where we speak with an...

About this episode It's fair to say that nuts have earned their place as a key food within healthy eating patterns. Yet most Australians (98%, in fact), fall well short of the recommended 30g a day, so are missing out on the health benefits of a daily handful of nuts.  One of the reasons for this shortfall is concern over the energy and fat content of nuts. In particular, roasted and salted nuts h...

Nuts are high in healthy fats and are energy (kilojoule) dense. But does this mean that regularly eating nuts is linked to weight gain? No. In fact, the opposite is what we tend to see. Decades of large population-based studies and clinical trials have consistently shown that those who regularly consume nuts tend to have a lower body weight and are less likely to gain weight over time. The mechani...

The perception of the 'healthiness' of nuts has changed over the last three decades, following the publication of a landmark study in 1992, 'A possible protective effect of nut consumption on risk of coronary heart disease'.  The study concluded that regular nut eaters had half the risk of heart disease compared to those who didn't eat nuts. Many years later in 2003, the health promotion program,...

The momentum for nuts and heart health initially started following the publication of a landmark study in 1992, "A possible protective effect of nut consumption on risk of coronary heart disease". The study concluded that regular nut eaters had half the risk of heart disease, compared to those who didn't eat nuts. Decades on, and the evidence for nuts and heart health continues to grow. The body o...

The debate on whether you need to activate nuts has been around for a while – with supporters claiming that activating (or soaking) increases the availability of nutrients by reducing phytate levels (phytates are often referred to as inhibitors as they can bind with certain nutrients and thereby prevent their absorption). But what does the research say? We take a look at the evidence to answer the...

We'll talk about what's to love about nuts and how to incorporate them into just about anything, from morning smoothies, to nut butters to coating your chicken or fish at dinner. We even discuss how to get creative with nuts and use them to make Christmas wreaths and to decorate your Christmas tree (that's assuming you haven't eaten them all first). Rebecca Gawthorne is an Accredited Practising Di...

About this episode The trend towards plant-based eating shows no sign of abating. In fact, a recent review of trends found that 56 per cent of us across the globe are trying to eat more plant-based foods. Nuts for Life commissioned Nutrition Research Australia to scope the published science on the effect of plant and nut protein on human and planetary health.  In this episode, Flavia takes a deep...