The Table (Still Life with Almonds)

Good Food, Bad Food: Almonds vs. Fries

In the realm of health halos, almonds shine brightly. Meanwhile, French fries are at the other end of the scale – lumped with iconic junk food. But the good food versus bad food paradigm has some serious limitations. A new RCT comparing the health outcomes from consuming almonds or fries illustrates this quite well. Researchers found no difference in fat mass or measures of glucose control between study groups consuming controlled portions of fries or almonds for 30 days.

After 30 days of consuming fries daily, one might expect people to gain more weight than they would from eating almonds. It is a reasonable conjecture. But as the principal investigator, David Allison, tells us, ­“Knowing is better.”

Almonds, Fries, and Seasoned Fries

This study had three arms. Researchers randomly assigned 180 persons to receive either almonds, fries, or seasoned fries. The study foods came in standard portions of 300 calories each. The fries were frozen and suitable for preparation in an oven. The almonds were roasted and salted. Subjects received instructions to consume these foods daily, but otherwise, the details of prep and consumption were up to the individuals in the study.

At the end of 30 days, the change in fat mass was no different for any of the three groups. Fasting glucose, insulin levels, insulin resistance, and HbA1c were no different, either. Only two differences showed up at all. First, in the group receiving plain fries, body weight change was lower than it was in the other two groups. Second, as one might expect, the acute glucose and insulin response to eating fries was greater than it was for almonds.

Good Food vs Bad Food

The PR machine for almond marketers has worked very well. The Healthline website, for example, lists “9 Evidence-Based Health Benefits of Almonds and sums it all up by saying:

“All things considered, almonds are as close to perfect as a food can get.”

Meanwhile, the Harvard School of Public Health tells us that “potatoes seem to be a particular culprit for weight gain and diabetes.”

However, much of this thinking springs from observational studies about diet and health. Eating lots of potatoes correlates with having more problems with obesity and diabetes. Eating almonds correlates with favorable health outcomes. But those correlations can only support speculation. Not definitive conclusions.

No single food in isolation is going to make a person fat or ruin their health. What matters more is how individual foods fit into an overall pattern of eating. Because so many factors are in play when we eat every day, many healthy patterns for eating are possible. The paradigm of good food versus bad food can easily lead us astray.

The important thing is for each person to find a pattern that works for them. When this task is daunting, a skillful registered dietitian can help.

Click here for the study and here for more on the limitations of observational nutrition studies.

The Table (Still Life with Almonds), painting by Maurice de Vlaminck / WikiArt

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March 10, 2022

4 Responses to “Good Food, Bad Food: Almonds vs. Fries”

  1. March 10, 2022 at 8:37 am, David Brown said:

    … the Harvard School of Public Health tells us that “potatoes seem to be a particular culprit for weight gain and diabetes.”

    Maybe the Harvard experts are mistaken. https://spudfit.com/about/
    https://universityhealthnews.com/daily/nutrition/my-plant-based-diet-how-ignoring-the-most-common-dietary-advice-made-me-feel-better-than-ever/

  2. March 10, 2022 at 12:02 pm, Neva Cochran said:

    Great blog, Ted. I say basically the same thing over and over that you wrote, “No single food in isolation is going to make a person fat or ruin their health. What matters more is how individual foods fit into an overall pattern of eating. Because so many factors are in play when we eat every day, many healthy patterns for eating are possible.” But we continue to see single foods and ingredients maligned as bad or lauded as the cure. It is so frustrating and does not help people learn to enjoy eating instead of fearing food.

  3. March 10, 2022 at 3:34 pm, Richard Atkinson said:

    Hmmm. Eating 300 extra kcal per day over a month made no difference for body weight in any group. Might make one think that body weight or energy intake is regulated somehow.

    I agree with David Brown’s comment.

  4. March 11, 2022 at 6:13 am, Mary-Jo said:

    I’m curious if they replicated this trial with different foods, extra 300 iCals of, say pure sugar vs. apples or bread vs. iceberg lettuce, chocolate vs. walnuts, i.e. foods with much more contrasting composition of almonds vs. frites which are both high-fat sources.