Fats, Nuts & Oils: Calories & Macros per Serving
This is the food group that breaks the most diets — not because fats are bad, but because they're the most calorie-dense thing in your kitchen at roughly 9 calories per gram. A "drizzle" of olive oil is 120 calories. A casual handful of almonds is 200. The table below shows every fat-category food in our database per realistic serving, so you can see exactly what each unmeasured pour and handful costs.
None of this is an argument against eating fats. Nuts, seeds, avocado, and olive oil carry fiber, unsaturated fats, and micronutrients that low-fat diets miss, and dietary fat is essential for hormone function. The argument is for measuring them: fats are the highest-leverage food group to weigh, because small measurement errors create the largest calorie errors. Two weeks of weighing your oil and nut butter is often the entire fix for a stalled cut.
| Food | Serving | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Almond Butter | 2 tbsp (32g) | 196614/100g | 6.7g | 6g | 17.8g |
| Almonds | 28g (about 23 nuts) | 162579/100g | 5.9g | 6g | 14g |
| Avocado | ½ medium (100g) | 160160/100g | 2g | 8.5g | 14.7g |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 100717/100g | 0.1g | 0g | 11.4g |
| Cashews | 28g (about 18 nuts) | 155553/100g | 5.1g | 8.5g | 12.3g |
| Chia Seeds | 2 tbsp (24g) | 117486/100g | 4g | 10.1g | 7.4g |
| Coconut Oil | 1 tbsp (13.6g) | 121892/100g | 0g | 0g | 13.5g |
| Flaxseed (ground) | 2 tbsp, ground (14g) | 72514/100g | 2.5g | 4.8g | 5.2g |
| Macadamia Nuts | 28g (about 11 nuts) | 201718/100g | 2.2g | 3.9g | 21.2g |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (13.5g) | 119884/100g | 0g | 0g | 13.5g |
| Peanut Butter | 2 tbsp (32g) | 191598/100g | 7.1g | 7.1g | 16.4g |
| Pecans | 28g (about 19 halves) | 196700/100g | 2.8g | 3.6g | 20.5g |
| Pistachios | 28g kernels (about 49 nuts) | 157561/100g | 5.7g | 7.8g | 12.6g |
| Pumpkin Seeds | 28g kernels (small handful) | 161574/100g | 8.3g | 4.1g | 13.7g |
| Sunflower Seeds | 28g kernels (small handful) | 163582/100g | 5.4g | 6.7g | 13.9g |
| Walnuts | 28g (about 14 halves) | 183654/100g | 4.3g | 3.8g | 18.3g |
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why are nuts so high in calories?
They're low in water and high in fat, which carries 9 calories per gram versus 4 for protein and carbs. That makes nuts roughly ten times more calorie-dense than fruit by weight — nutritious, but worth portioning with a scale rather than a hand.
Should I avoid fats when cutting calories?
Don't go below roughly 0.5–0.6 g of fat per kg of body weight — fat supports hormone production and vitamin absorption. The better move is choosing where your fat calories go: whole foods like nuts and avocado are more filling than the same calories of cooking oil.
Do roasted and raw nuts have different calories?
Dry-roasted and raw nuts are nearly identical. Oil-roasted nuts pick up a small amount of extra fat, and honey-roasted or flavored versions add sugar — check the specific entry rather than assuming.
How accurate are nut calorie counts?
Interestingly, labels slightly overstate them: studies show some nuts (especially almonds) yield 5–20% fewer absorbed calories than the label implies, because some fat passes through undigested. Log the label number anyway — it's the conservative choice.