There’re so many people who love almond flour, and it’s not hard to see why it’s their first choice over wheat and other, often less healthy options available. Almond flower is both a gluten-free flour and an excellent choice for anyone on a low-carbohydrate diet. If you’re following a special diet or just being healthy and looking to bake without grains, almond flour is a must-have in your cupboard! So you get all the health benefits that come with eating a bunch of heart-healthy nuts.
See, almonds are impressively high in nutrition! One cup contains just under ninety almonds and gives you more than 100 percent of your daily requirement of vitamin E, as well as almost 99 mg of magnesium, plus 257 mg of potassium. It’s super versatile as it can be used in all kinds of baked foods and is unlike overly processed wheat flour or other alternatives that do little to nothing good for your health. Almond flour is moist and delicious and has so many health benefits! So let’s discuss a few below…
It’s super important in keeping your heart healthy! Scientists have also found that eating almonds in any form (including the tasty flour!) can keep your blood vessels healthy which helps avoid coronary heart disease.
Eating almonds also significantly increases the level of antioxidants in the bloodstream, which can improve blood flow and therefore reduce blood pressure. All these amazing health benefits add up to one healthy heart and lower risk of heart disease.
Almond flower also manages blood sugars, a study produced in 2006 found that for healthy individuals, after a meal, almonds decrease blood glucose levels and increase levels of insulin in the system. Antioxidant levels in the blood also increased after the almond-laden meal. Which is all good news for any people with diabetes out there.
The flour also encourages weight loss and a healthy waistline! The two snacks have the same calorific content, the only difference in their diets was this snack. After six weeks each group would switch the snacks, so the first group would now eat the muffins and the. Second the almonds. The study showed that when the two groups snacked on almonds, their bad cholesterol level was reduced as well as. Their healthy good cholesterol levels being increased! Eating the muffins produced the opposite results.
I would encourage everyone next time there shopping to pick up some almond flour and just give it a try! You’ll be more than pleasantly surprised by the tastiness, and all the added health benefits you will gain from introducing. It into your diet.
By Carolina Martinez
Certified Health Coach,
Institute for Integrative Nutrition