Almonds are one of my go-to snacks at work, and for many of my co-workers as well. I always eat the raw almonds, but my co-workers prefer to eat the roasted ones…oh they taste so good and crunchy, but I had my doubts of how they compared health wise. Here are my findings.
According to the Worlds Healthiest Foods by George Mateljan, the commercial roasting process of nuts is often a form of deep-frying, usually in saturated fat such as coconut or palm kernel oil. So make sure if you are buying roasted almonds, you are buying “dry roasted” which means they are not cooked in oil. Also be sure to read the label to ensure that there are no additional ingredients such as sugar, corn syrup or preservatives.
However, even dry roasted almonds can be roasted at such high temperatures that they damager their natural oils and cause a breakdown of their fats and produce free-radicals.
If you like the taste of roasted almonds, it’s best to do it yourself by placing a layer of raw almonds on a cookie sheet and roasting them in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 160-170°F(70-75°C) this way you can ensure there are no unwanted ingredients.