Nuts, Seeds & Butters
Nuts carry modest carbohydrate and a lot of energy, with chestnuts as the starchy exception; the Nuts, Seeds & Butters guide gives that shape. This guide is about the handful. Every nut here is eaten by the palmful, and USDA weighs what a 28 g palmful is in kernels: 23 almonds, 14 walnut halves, 19 pecan halves, 10 to 12 macadamias, 49 pistachios, 21 hazelnuts, or 6 Brazil nuts. With those counts the per-100 g figures become useful. A handful of most nuts is 3 to 4 g of carbohydrate; of almonds 6 g, pistachios 8 g, cashews 9 g. The guide then covers what roasting and salting change, why Brazil nuts are counted by the kernel, and the one nut here marked avoid, ginkgo, which no agency page names. Nine of the twelve nuts carry no rule at all.
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13.9 g of carbohydrate per 100 g, 9.6 g of it fibre; 19 halves make a handful.
16.7 g of carbohydrate per 100 g with 9.7 g of fibre; 21 nuts make a handful.
13.8 g of carbohydrate per 100 g but 76 g of fat, the most energy here; 10 to 12 make a handful.
27.5 g of carbohydrate per 100 g, 10 g of it fibre; 49 kernels make a handful, so they take longest to eat.
13.1 g of carbohydrate per 100 g; about 170 kernels to a handful, so they are used by the spoon.
Here for the count: 30 g of carbohydrate per 100 g, the most of the true nuts, with the least fibre, 3.3 g.
Five nuts at the low-carbohydrate end with their handful counts, and cashews for being the high end. Almonds, walnuts, Brazil nuts and chestnuts are featured in the Nuts, Seeds & Butters guide; ginkgo nuts are marked avoid.
USDA's ounce, 28 g, is 23 almonds, 14 walnut halves, 19 pecan halves, 10 to 12 macadamias, 49 pistachio kernels, 21 hazelnuts, 6 Brazil nuts or about 170 pine nuts. The NHS calls unsalted nuts a good snack to eat in moderation for their fat, and gives no weight; 28 to 30 g is the usual working amount. At that weight a handful carries 155 to 200 kcal whichever nut it is.[1] [2]
Per 100 g the nuts here run from 12 g of carbohydrate in Brazil nuts, 13 g in pine nuts and walnuts, 14 g in macadamias and pecans and 17 g in hazelnuts, up to 22 g in almonds, 27.5 g in pistachios and 30 g in cashews. Per 28 g handful that is 3.5 g for the first group, 5 g for hazelnuts, 6 g for almonds, 8 g for pistachios and 8.5 g for cashews. Fibre runs the other way: almonds carry 12.5 g per 100 g, pistachios 10 g, cashews 3 g. Cashews and pistachios are the two where a second handful starts to count.[1]
USDA's dry-roasted almonds carry 21 g of carbohydrate and 52.5 g of fat per 100 g against 21.6 g and 49.9 g raw: roasting drives off a little water and nothing else. Salt is the label to read. Dry-roasted salted almonds list 234 mg of sodium per 100 g, pistachios 428 mg, peanuts 410 mg and cashews 640 mg, against 1 to 18 mg raw; salted cashews cross the NHS's 600 mg high-salt threshold on their own. Every nut in this library is the unsalted figure; a salted packet carries what the packet says.[1] [3]
USDA weighs a Brazil nut at 5 g and lists 1,917 µg of selenium per 100 g, so one kernel carries about 96 µg. The NHS puts what a woman needs at 60 µg a day, says 350 µg or less a day from supplements is unlikely to cause harm, and describes selenosis, the effect of too much, as hair and nail loss in its mildest form. One Brazil nut covers the day; a six-kernel handful, USDA's ounce, is about 575 µg, which is why the page here limits them and why they are the one nut not to eat by the handful.[1] [4]
Ginkgo nuts are marked avoid here, and the page's reason is ginkgotoxin, a compound the page says has caused seizures in adults at about ten nuts, with no safe intake established in pregnancy. No agency page names ginkgo nuts; the NHS's general advice against herbal medicines in pregnancy is the nearest rule, and the tier rests on references rather than an agency.[5]
Chestnuts carry 45.5 g of carbohydrate per 100 g here and in USDA's raw record, with 2 g of fat, so a 28 g handful is 13 g of carbohydrate, twice an almond handful's, and roasted chestnuts count like bread rather than like nuts. Tiger nuts are not nuts but tubers, at 63 g of carbohydrate per 100 g, 33 g of it fibre.[1]
| Food | Carbs | Fiber | Calories | Blood sugar impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil Nuts Caution | 12.3 g | 7.5 g | 659 kcal | low |
| Pine Nuts | 13.1 g | 3.7 g | 673 kcal | low |
| Walnuts | 13.7 g | 6.7 g | 654 kcal | low |
| Macadamia Nuts | 13.8 g | 8.6 g | 718 kcal | low |
| Pecans | 13.9 g | 9.6 g | 691 kcal | low |
| Hazelnuts | 16.7 g | 9.7 g | 628 kcal | low |
All 12 to 17 g of carbohydrate per 100 g; macadamias carry the most energy, Brazil nuts the pregnancy badge.
| Food | Carbs | Fiber | Protein | Blood sugar impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Almonds | 21.6 g | 12.5 g | 21.2 g | low |
| Pistachios | 27.5 g | 10.3 g | 20.2 g | low |
| Cashews | 30.2 g | 3.3 g | 18.2 g | low |
| Chestnuts (whole) | 45.5 g | 8.1 g | 2.4 g | medium |
| Tiger Nut (Chufa) | 63 g | 33 g | 4.5 g | low |
From 22 g of carbohydrate per 100 g in almonds to 63 g in tiger nuts; almonds carry the most fibre and protein of the true nuts.
| Food | Protein | Fat | Calories | Blood sugar impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Almonds | 21.2 g | 49.9 g | 579 kcal | low |
| Pistachios | 20.2 g | 45.3 g | 562 kcal | low |
| Cashews | 18.2 g | 43.8 g | 553 kcal | low |
| Walnuts | 15.2 g | 65.2 g | 654 kcal | low |
| Hazelnuts | 15 g | 60.8 g | 628 kcal | low |
| Brazil Nuts Caution | 14.3 g | 67.1 g | 659 kcal | low |
Almonds and pistachios lead at 20 to 21 g of protein per 100 g; every nut here is 44 to 67 g fat.
Figures from each food's entry in this library. Open a food for its full profile and portion notes.
12 foods in this category, each rated for glycemic impact and blood sugar effect.
Track how whole nuts affects your blood sugar with the SugarCurve app — free to download.
Start Free Trial →About 25: USDA weighs an almond at 1.2 g and counts 23 to the ounce. That handful is 6.5 g of carbohydrate, 4 g of it fibre, and about 175 kcal. For the other nuts, USDA's ounce is 14 walnut halves, 19 pecan halves, 10 to 12 macadamias, 49 pistachios or 21 hazelnuts.[1] [2]
Not for blood sugar; for salt. USDA's dry-roasted salted cashews carry 640 mg of sodium per 100 g, above the NHS's 600 mg high-salt line, and salted pistachios 428 mg, against 1 to 12 mg raw. The NHS names unsalted nuts as the good snack. The carbohydrate is the same either way.[1] [2] [3]
By the figures, no. USDA's dry-roasted almonds carry 21 g of carbohydrate per 100 g against 21.6 g raw, and 52.5 g of fat against 49.9 g, because roasting removes a little water. What changes a roasted nut is what is added to it: salt, honey or a coating, which is on the ingredient list.[1]
The page here cites ginkgotoxin, which it says has caused seizures in adults at about ten nuts, and the absence of any safe intake in pregnancy. No agency page names ginkgo nuts; the NHS's rule against herbal medicines in pregnancy is the nearest official advice, and the tier rests on references rather than an agency.[5]
Every pregnancy is different, and gestational diabetes is managed differently depending on your readings, your medication and how far along you are. The ratings and portions on this page are general information — not a diagnosis, a treatment plan or a medical device — and they cannot see your results.
Contact your care team the same day if: your readings stay above target for several days; you have a reading below 54 mg/dL (3.0 mmol/L) or needed someone else's help to treat a low; you test positive for ketones; or your baby is moving less than usual. Seek emergency care for confusion, fainting, repeated vomiting, or a low you cannot bring back up.
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Compiled and reviewed by Dalo Labs ApS. Numbered references in the text point to the sources below. Not endorsed by or affiliated with any referenced organization. · Last reviewed: August 12, 2026
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