Almonds and All rights.

My wife and I differ on the topic of nutrition. She was raised with an environment of “enough” and I was raised in an environment of “excess.” For this reason, I had to learn early on to watch and learn about what I ate, when she had, just enough, stopped when done. It was this background that led me to invest in education about foods. 

One thing I found very interesting is that nuts are not always nuts. As my wife exhales, looks away in contempt, I make my next phrase, peanuts are legumes, and other tree nuts, are nuts. Huge difference nutritionally and if you suffer from chronic inflammation, like most people are these days, then this difference is critical for you. 

The almond is one of my most favorite tree nuts. I seek them in the store as though I am a hunter searching for a plump wild boar, or a cheetah going after a jackrabbit, or an arctic wolf taking down a wildebeest, or…., sorry, new documentary about animals hunting has me obsessed. Nonetheless, almonds mean a lot to me, they mean that the world and her conditions are right enough, no matter the processing, to produce such a thing. I also know that it takes quite a bit of water to grow a single almond, and that these, “California Almonds” as they promote on the store shelves are actually taking a good amount of necessary resources to indulge people like me who feast on them by the handful. It is only right I feel a little bit of guilt, which is why I guess I feel the need to write the negatives of almonds first. 

On a positive note, the trees that produce these nuts take minerals, produce vitamins, plant sterols and other phytonutrients that provide benefits still not completely understood. The vitamins are primarily of the fat-soluble type (mostly monounsaturated fatty acids), fiber, the plant protein, all beneficial for ease of digestion, along with a healthy body and mind (in that order). A snack of nuts can suffice and prevent a lot of other, more intrusive foods like candy or chocolate, for they are rich in magnesium and therefore can suffice during a time of craving. Almonds provide a good crunch, a satisfying composition, can be salty, raw, sweetened, made into flour, made into meal, made into a butter, all different ways and shapes to alter this nut from a tree. Given many alterations denature what was once good in the nut, still the benefits outweigh the negatives other foods may provide. 

A single nut, nothing more, definitely nothing less. (shown above: pistachio)

Our moods are affected by the environment we are in. People complain of a hostile work environment, or they feel like crap, suffer from seasonal depression, a monotonous and unfulfilling career, ungrateful kids, and so on. So, we aren’t feeling too well if our perception of the environment is not so conducive to a positive mood. Maybe instead of stability in job, we would benefit more from a challenge. Maybe instead of that relationship of comfort we leave to find passion. Maybe instead of passively watching TV with the kids complaining they don’t listen, you turn it off and get to their level, listen to them, interact, parent. We are not meant to live in a constant state of comfort, therefore we feel the pain of discomfort, so we are meant to do something else, see things a certain way, make a change. Not only a change externally, but in what we choose to focus on. 

Almonds promote mental health through means of fat-soluble vitamins, appetite suppression, regulation of blood sugar levels, but also, show that the world is continuously capable of making such a treat. Yes, the fact that nuts or meats or veggies exist at all and they were on sale this last weekend, tells me that they are still produced just fine despite what the most-recent chaotic news story about possible war or trade embargoes, or other corruption in politics. I have my nuts which is more than a lot of people can say. My nuts ground me to the here and now and tell me that everything is going to be alright (no pun intended). 

Insert random brain picture here to indicate
this is what I am referring to. 

As I swallow the last bit of chewed nut mass and the back of the tongue with it’s deep grooves send an impulse to the brain giving the thumbs up of satisfaction, that split second is a mixture of wanting more (the excess in me) and being content for I know I just put something good inside, but that there is also good going on outside. 

Castle-Broken, a memoir/self-help about my life, my body image disorder concerns and what you or someone you love can do about it. Click Here. 

Stay positive, stay grounded, use logic, and eat some nuts. 

God Bless.