Nutritionists suggest limiting the consumption of cashew nuts to a maximum of 5 to 10 cashew nuts per day to avoid weight gain. You can eat 15 to 30 cashew nuts a day as a primary source of fat and a secondary source of protein. Not all fats are bad for your health, and some types of fats can help your heart health. An ounce of cashew nuts (18 medium walnuts), according to the Cleveland Clinic, has 157 calories.
That's not a huge amount, about 8 percent of total daily calories for a typical 2000-calorie diet. However, it's very easy to eat more than 18 cashew nuts in one sitting without even realizing it. From raw or roasted to whether you need to know or worry about activated almonds, here's everything you need to know about eating nuts. Nuts have gotten a bad rap in recent years when it comes to the amount of water needed to grow them, especially almonds and cashew nuts.
Almonds have slightly more calories, 162 per ounce, but they also have more than 3.5 grams of fiber per ounce compared to less than 1 gram per ounce of cashew nuts. Eat one 1-ounce serving (about ¼ cup) a day, Sassos recommends, and you'll get all the nutritional benefits of cashew nuts. Cashew nuts are protein-packed nuts that are a good source of vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants. So how do cashew nuts compare to other nuts? They are all quite the same, although there are some notable differences.
Most studies and researchers believe that cashew nuts are beneficial for patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Cashew nuts have a fairly high oxalate content, and eating foods with a large amount of oxalates can cause kidney stones. But almonds, cashews, coconuts, pecans, pistachios, macadamias and walnuts are not nuts either, they are drupe seeds. Unless you carefully monitor your intake of other foods, eating all those cashew nuts means you'll exceed your calorie needs for the day.
In particular, pregnant and breastfeeding women and people with diabetes should avoid a large amount of cashew nuts. Cashew nuts have slightly less protein than almonds and walnuts, and slightly more carbohydrates in the form of natural sugars, according to data from the USDA. For example, if you ate 3 ounces or 5 ounces of cashew nuts at a time, that would be 471 or 785 calories, 23.5 or 39 percent of a typical 2000-calorie diet. The creamy, nutty flavor of cashew nuts can be tempting, and it's easy to end up consuming too much at one time.