What's the difference between 300 calories of french fries vs. almonds?

Almonds are a superfood rich in high-quality protein, vitamins, minerals, and a zero glycemic index.

 Illustrative image of french fries.  (photo credit: PIXABAY)
Illustrative image of french fries.
(photo credit: PIXABAY)

Numerous studies have recently come out that show that snacking on peanuts makes you feel more full and therefore makes you eat less calories, resulting in weight loss. 

A new study decided to check if the feeling of satiety is from eating fat without any relation to the nutritional value. They, therefore, decided to check the effect of – wait for it – french fries.

French Fries vs Almonds

They took one of the most unhealthy foods with a high percentage of fat and compared it to the consumption of almonds, a superfood rich in high-quality protein, vitamins, minerals, and a zero glycemic index; this, in addition to 60% high-quality fat.

Dr. Maya Roseman shared the results of the study on 103FM, explaining that the study had people take a snack with the same caloric value of 300 calories, either french fries or almonds. They monitored the peoples' weights, fat percentages and diabetes test results.

A weight loss myth busted

After 30 days, there was no difference in the percentage of fat and weight and there was almost no difference at all in the diabetes indicators.

Dr. Roseman explained that quite a few myths about almonds need to be busted.

"Many people think roasted almonds have more calories, but that's not true," she said. "The number of calories written on the different packs of almonds vary between 580 and 620 calories per 100 grams, whether the almonds are roasted or not."

"Many people think roasted almonds have more calories, but that's not true."

Dr. Maya Roseman

She further stated that "from a nutritional point of view, there is almost no difference in the number of vitamins and minerals in roasted almonds and unroasted almonds; there's almost no difference in the number of fatty acids, nor in proteins."

She conceded that the only difference is in the amount of salt. Roasted almonds have approximately 100 milligrams of sodium in 100 grams of almonds, which means that a portion of 15 almonds contains only 100 milligrams of sodium – less than a tenth of a teaspoon of salt, which is not a large amount.