Pine Nut Calories
Pine nuts are delectable munchies that can be popped at anytime of the day and make for the best snacks when it comes to eating out of sheer boredom. Thankfully, they form a part of healthy snacks and are a safe option for people who are hell-bent on either losing weight or not putting on any. Scientifically belonging to the pinaceae family, pine nuts in reality are seeds without the outer fleshy shell of a fruit or carpel, borne in pine cones, found in pine trees. Pine nuts also referred to as 'pinyons' or 'pignolias', have an innate sweet taste of its own. It is also known to emit its best aroma when toasted before eating.
Pine nuts are of myriad varieties such as the Italian stone or umbrella pine nut, the Colorado Two-needle pion nut, the Chinese white pine nuts, the Mexican pinyon among others. Going on to the subject of pine nut calories as well as pine nut nutrition benefits, let me tell you before spelling out anything else, that calories are not always bad and harmful. Good calories that come from constructive forms of fat actually help the body in multitudinous ways. Read on to find out exactly how.
Calories in Pine Nuts
The following estimate of nutrients present in pine nuts are in tandem with 1 ounce of pine nuts, which would include approximately 167 kernels.
- Fats:The total fat content in an ounce of pine nuts is 19.38 gms. But let me give you the breakup of the fat distribution before you start to shriek. Out of this only 1.38 gms. are potentially harmful saturated fats. The rest is polyunsaturated fats (9.65 gms.) and monounsaturated fats (5.32 gms.), good for nourishing skin and lowering cholesterol grades to keep the cardiovascular system in shipshape, respectively.
- Protein: In charge of the repair and damage control department in the human body, along with the regulation of certain enzyme and hormone secretion, proteins are an essential requirement of even the smallest cell in the body. An ounce of pine nuts cater to that need by providing 3.88 gms. of protein.
- Carbohydrates: The primary function of carbohydrates is to facilitate the proper functioning of the metabolic system of the body, as well as maintaining optimal energy levels and acting as support system for muscle tissues. From pine nuts you get almost 3.71 gms. of carbohydrates which benefits your system. In that, a dietary fiber composition of 1 gm. is included, which is the complex form of carbohydrate and creates roughage. Sugar, which provides energy is also a part of carbohydrates and is present in pine nuts in a quantity of 1.02 gms.
Other Pine Nuts Nutrition Facts
Pine nut health benefits are really numerous. Here's how.
- Pine nuts are rich sources of folate, a form of vitamin B that aids in cell development and replication. It is also an essential reservoir of vitamin E (2.65 mg.), an antioxidant that helps to dissolve free radical present in the human body. Besides these, it is also a plausible source of vitamin K (15.3 mcg.) which other than easing out menstrual pains, initiates blood clotting among other functions.
- Copper, a mineral that produces a potent antioxidant called Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), looks after the condition of the arteries and strengthens the skeletal system, contained in pine nuts in a whopping amount. An ounce contains nothing less than 0.375 mg. of copper.
- Though pine nuts cannot be called the best sources of calcium, an ounce contains about 5 mg. of it.
- Pine nuts also house other minerals like potassium (169 mg.), phosphorus (163 mg), magnesium (71 mg.) and iron (1.57 mg.).
- Pine nuts contain arginine, an alpha-amino acid, which not only relieves the body off ammonia, but also plays significant roles in the process of cell division, reduces repair time of wounded tissues, lowers blood pressure and heals erectile dysfunction in men. However, take care here as an excess intake of arginine may lead to an attack of herpes.
- Every 100 gms. of pine nuts contains about 236 mg. of phytosterols that check cholesterol levels.
