Almond Flour, Not All Flours Are Created Equal

July 14, 2019 - Nutrition - 0 Comments

The most common flour many of us have grown up with is whole white wheat flour. In recent years, things such as gluten intolerance and glycemic loading have become a problem associated with this flour. Recently, almond flour has appeared as a healthy alterative. Gluten free diets and the Paleo diet have increased almond flour’s popularity.

Almond flour is made by soaking the almond nuts and then grinding them up into a fine powder. This flour can be used just like wheat flour to bake with or to fry. Going head to head with wheat flour, almond flour not only provides more nutrition but has a much better balance of protein, fat and carbs.

Here are how the two flours stack up against each other:

There are two main differences you can see between wheat and almond flour. First, almond flour is much lower in carbohydrates than wheat flour. In one serving of almond flour, carbohydrates account for 16% of the total calories whereas in wheat flour they account for 83%. The lower carb count keeps blood sugars from rising and helps with weight management since less carbs means less conversion to fat.

Second, almond flour has a much higher amount of monounsaturated fat than wheat flour. At first glance, someone might think this is a negative, but it helps in slowing the carbs to the bloodstream, lowering the glycemic index of the food.

The biggest drawback to almond flour is price. A 5lbs bag of flour costs under $4. Almond flour is $8 per pound. If it is bought in bulk, the price can be reduced. I have ordered almond flour from Amazon, which comes in a 1gallon bucket for $35.

I use the flour with my DASH air fryer to crisp up cauliflower or broccoli. It can be used with almost everything. Give it a try.