A person doing a lot of low carbs, keto, paleo, or grain-free baking, there are chances that they are using a lot of almond flour. But do people know whether it is the best choice?
If any person uses almond flour daily, a few causes limit the use. First, everybody knows about the Paleolithic diet and that it has been for a very long time.
For anyone who needs to be on a grain-free diet, it may be why they can’t tolerate grains or have celiac diseases or find that a low-carb diet works best for their body, then grain-free flour-like harina de almendra would be best.
Nowadays, it is being overused, and also overusing it has led to main benefits to someone’s health such as preventing weight gain, digestive upset, and inflammation. So, what are the causes of limiting the use of Almond flour? Let’s discuss this in this article.
Contents
Causes To Limit The Use Of Almond Flour
There are a few causes that a person should know to limit the use of Almond Flour. So, now let’s discuss this one by one.
1. Decrease in production
Almond consumption has increased ten times in the world since 1965. However, almond is not grown in every country as it requires cool winters and mild springs to grow, and they grow in the countries where this type of weather only persists. So, the country that produces almonds all over the world that are used for snacking, almond milk, almond butter, and almond flour, has been facing severe drought for several years due to this high surge in demand and less production.
2. High phytic acid content
Almond Flour has high phytic acid content. So, What is phytic acid? It is an anti-nutrient that occurs naturally in all seeds, grains, beans, legumes, seeds, and nuts like almonds. But the most crucial fact that everyone should remember is that it is not beneficial for humans as it is very hard on our bodies and can cause gut issues, tooth decay, and, most importantly, nutrient deficiencies.
3. It can cause constipation
If nuts are eaten in large quantities, they cause constipation. It is not only nut flours, but nut milk, nut butter, and granola-containing nuts also have higher nut content which can be problematic for our bowels. If anyone does a lot of grain-free baking with almond flour and notices that they are a bit backed up, they should start eliminating nuts, nut butter, and nut milk for a few days and see if the situation improves or the regularity is restored.
4. Almond flour contains high poly-unsaturated fats
PUFAs, i.e., poly-unsaturated fats, contain high Omega 6 fatty acids. In small amounts,
these fatty acids are essential for our health. No more than 2% of Omega 6 fatty acid is recommended in anyone’s daily diet, but if a person eats a diet high in baked goods made with almond flour, then he is getting more than 2% which can cause inflammation in their body. A diet high in PUFA’s also causes free radical damage, gut dysbiosis, hormone imbalances, slower metabolism, etc.
5. No limitation on nut intake
When a person eats one slice of cake, muffin, pancake, or waffle made of almond flour, he doesn’t know how many nuts he is eating through this food. It may contain more than a small handful of almonds, which can also increase Omega 6 fatty acids in the diet.
6. It is costly
Nuts are generally expensive, hence nut flours; grain-free flours are also expensive. But in comparison to almond flour, coconut flour is much more cost-effective. Other flours such as cassava flour and tiger nut flour are also cheap. So recipes made with almond flour will never be cheaper than those made with coconut flour or any other flour. Grain-free baking can also be done with cassava flour, but it is a bit more expensive than coconut flour, but it also boosts health benefits.
Final Thoughts
So, these are the causes to limit the use of Almond Flour and the points to consider when it comes to grain-free baking. You should read this blog to get a vast idea of this. Let’s get started!