Why Almond Flour Is Better Than Most Other Flours: Low in carbs, high in nutrients, and slightly sweeter than wheat flour, almond flour is a popular alternative. Almond flour may reduce “bad” LDL cholesterol and insulin resistance better than wheat flour. This article discusses almond flour’s health benefits and whether it’s better than other flours.
Why Almond Flour Is Better Than Most Other Flours
Ground almonds become almond flour. After blanching almonds in boiling water to remove the skins, they are ground and sifted into a fine flour. Despite common confusion, almond flour and almond meal are different. Almond meal is coarser flour made by grinding almonds with their skins. These differences matter in recipes where texture matters.
Almond Flour Is Incredibly Nutritious
Vitamin E, fat-soluble antioxidants, is abundant in almond flour. They protect against free radicals, which accelerate aging and increase heart disease and cancer risk. Multiple studies have linked vitamin E intake to lower heart disease and Alzheimer’s rates. Almond flour is rich in magnesium. It affects many body processes and may improve blood sugar control, insulin resistance, and blood pressure.
Almond Flour Is Better for Your Blood Sugar
Refined wheat products are high in carbs but low in fat and fiber. This can cause high blood sugar spikes and rapid drops, leaving you tired, hungry, and craving sugary, calorie-rich foods. Almond flour is high in healthy fats and fiber but low in carbs.
Because of its low glycemic index, it releases sugar slowly into your blood for sustained energy. As mentioned above, almond flour is rich in magnesium, which controls blood sugar and has hundreds of other functions. Magnesium deficiency affects 25–38% of type 2 diabetics, and diet or supplements can lower blood sugar and improve insulin function.
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Actually, almond flour may improve insulin function in overweight people without type 2 diabetes who have low or normal magnesium levels. Due to their low glycemic index and high magnesium content, almonds may help control blood sugar in people with or without type 2 diabetes.
Almond Flour Is Gluten-Free
Gluten is found in wheat flours. It keeps dough stretchy and captures air during baking to make it fluffy. People with celiac disease or wheat intolerance cannot eat gluten because their bodies perceive it as harmful. These people’s bodies produce an autoimmune response to remove gluten.
This response damages the gut lining, causing bloating, diarrhea, weight loss, skin rashes, and fatigue. For those who can’t eat wheat or gluten, almond flour is a great baking alternative. Check the almond flour packaging before buying. Almonds are gluten-free, but some products may contain gluten.
Almond Flour May Help Lower LDL Cholesterol and Blood Pressure
The leading cause of death worldwide is heart disease.High blood pressure and “bad” LDL cholesterol are known heart disease risk factors. Fortunately, almonds have been shown to lower blood pressure and LDL cholesterol. Almond consumption reduced LDL cholesterol by 5.79 mg/dl in five studies of 142 people.
This promising finding may have been due to factors other than eating more almonds. Participants in the five studies ate differently. Weight loss lowers LDL cholesterol. Both experimental and observational studies have linked magnesium deficiencies to high blood pressure, and almonds are high in magnesium. These deficiencies may lower blood pressure are inconsistent. This area needs more research to draw stronger conclusions.
How Does It Compare to Alternatives?
Many people substitute almond flour for wheat and coconut flour. Comparative data follows.
Wheat Flours
Almond flour has more fat than wheat flour but fewer carbs.Unfortunately, almond flour has more calories. Its high nutritional value compensates. Almond flour provides an adequate amount of vitamin E, manganese, magnesium, and fiber per ounce. Celiacs and wheat intolerance sufferers can use almond flour because it’s gluten-free.
Almond flour can replace wheat flour 1:1 in baking, but it makes cakes flatter and denser because it lacks gluten.Wheat flours have more phytic acid, an antinutrient, than almond flour, which reduces nutrient absorption. It reduces gut absorption of calcium, magnesium, zinc, and iron by binding to them. Due to blanching, almond flour loses its phytic acid content, unlike almonds.
Coconut Flour
Coconut flour, like wheat flours, has more carbs and less fat than almond. Although almond flour has more vitamins and minerals per ounce, it has fewer calories. Coconut flour absorbs moisture well and makes baked goods dry and crumbly, making it harder to bake with than almond flour. This means coconut flour recipes may need more liquid. Coconut flour contains more phytic acid than almond flour, which can reduce nutrient absorption.
