Almonds may have 20 percent less calories than previously thought. Photo: iStockphoto
By ALLISON AUBREY | NPR’s The Salt -
Almonds may have 20 percent less calories than previously thought.
Scientists are starting to discover that the standard way of measuring calories, established more than 100 years ago, may not be terribly accurate when it comes to higher fat, high-fiber foods like nuts. But when it comes to almonds, the count may be off by a whole lot.
Food scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently published a new study that finds almonds have about 20 percent fewer calories than previously documented.
That’s off by a lot more than an earlier British study showing pistachios have about 5 percent fewer calories than we thought, says USDA researcher David Baer, who worked on both studies.
“We were surprised,” he says.
