Pistachios: Protein and Fiber


A one-ounce handful of pistachios carries close to 6 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber in about 160 calories. Those two numbers sit behind most of what the pistachio trials measured: fuller feelings after a snack, a flatter blood-sugar curve when pistachios are eaten with bread or rice, and changes in what gut bacteria produce. This page looks at the protein and the fiber themselves — how much there is compared with other nuts, how good the protein is by the two scoring systems nutrition scientists use, where the popular phrase “complete protein” comes from and what the study behind it actually measured, what kind of fiber a pistachio holds, and what the human trials found when protein and fiber were part of the story. Each health outcome has its own full article in this series; here they are summarised and linked.


Table of Contents

  1. Protein and Fiber by the Ounce
  2. How Protein Quality Is Scored
  3. The Pistachio Scores: Raw and Roasted
  4. Where “Complete Protein” Comes From
  5. The Amino Acid Pattern
  6. The Fiber: How Much and What Kind
  7. Satiety and Body Weight Trials
  8. Post-Meal Blood Sugar
  9. Gut Microbes
  10. Plant Protein and Fiber in Large Studies
  11. What Is Not Known
  12. Who the Research Raises Concerns For
  13. Connections
  14. Key Research Papers
  15. Featured Videos

Protein and Fiber by the Ounce

The figures below come from the USDA FoodData Central database (SR Legacy entries), converted from the per-100-gram values to a one-ounce (28.35 g) portion. Pistachio figures are for raw kernels and dry-roasted kernels without added salt. One ounce is roughly 49 shelled pistachio kernels.

Nut (USDA entry)Calories per ozProtein per ozFiber per ozProtein per 100 kcal
Pistachios, raw1595.7 g3.0 g3.6 g
Pistachios, dry roasted1626.0 g2.9 g3.7 g
Almonds1646.0 g3.5 g3.7 g
Peanuts, raw (a legume)1617.3 g2.4 g4.6 g
Cashews, raw1575.2 g0.9 g3.3 g
Walnuts1854.3 g1.9 g2.3 g
Hazelnuts1784.2 g2.7 g2.4 g
Brazil nuts1874.1 g2.1 g2.2 g
Pecans1962.6 g2.7 g1.3 g
Macadamias, raw2042.2 g2.4 g1.1 g

Three things stand out in the table.

For the full mineral, vitamin and carotenoid panel, see the pistachio nutrient profile.

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How Protein Quality Is Scored

Grams of protein say how much there is. They do not say how useful it is. Protein is built from 20 amino acids, and nine of them are indispensable (also called essential): the body cannot make them and has to get them from food. A protein's quality depends on two things — whether it supplies those nine in the proportions the body needs, and how much of it is actually digested and absorbed rather than passing through.

Two scoring systems are in use. Both compare a food's amino acid pattern with a reference pattern set by an expert panel, find the indispensable amino acid that falls furthest short (the limiting amino acid), and correct for digestibility. They differ in how digestibility is measured.

The cut-offs most often quoted for DIAAS come from that same FAO report, which gives them as examples: 75 to 99 for a “good” or “source” protein, 100 or more for an “excellent” or “high” quality protein, and no protein claim below about 75. A score is always tied to an age group, because children's reference patterns call for more of some amino acids than adults' do.

Measuring digestibility at the end of the small intestine in people requires a tube or an ileostomy, so most DIAAS values are measured in growing pigs, whose digestion of protein is regarded as a reasonable model of the human gut, or in rats.

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The Pistachio Scores: Raw and Roasted

The only direct measurement of pistachio protein quality in the research pack behind this page comes from Bailey and Stein at the University of Illinois, published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture in 2020. The work was done in pigs: the researchers measured the standardized ileal digestibility of each amino acid from raw and from roasted pistachios, then calculated both scores. Their stated hypothesis was that both forms would score above 75, the “good source” line.

Score (age group)Raw pistachiosRoasted pistachiosLimiting amino acid
PDCAAS (children 2–5 years)7381Threonine
DIAAS (children over 3 years, adolescents and adults)8683Lysine

What the abstract reports, in plain terms:

A note on what this does not say: the existing main pistachios page states that roasted pistachios scored at or above 100 for adults. The abstract of the Bailey and Stein paper reports DIAAS values of 86 (raw) and 83 (roasted) for children over 3, adolescents and adults, and describes roasting as lowering digestibility. The figures on this page follow the abstract.

For context, these values put pistachios in the same “good” band as many plant proteins rather than alongside eggs, milk or meat, which typically score at or above 100. In a mixed diet the limiting amino acid of one food is usually made up by another — lysine-rich legumes alongside grains, for example — which is why scores for single foods matter most when one food supplies most of a person's protein.

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Where “Complete Protein” Comes From

Pistachios are widely described as a “complete protein,” and the phrase is worth unpacking because it can mean two quite different things.

  1. Contains all nine indispensable amino acids. This is true of pistachios — and of almost every whole food that contains protein, plant or animal. The USDA entry lists measurable amounts of all nine.
  2. Supplies all nine in sufficient proportion, after digestion, to meet requirements on its own. This is what a score of 100 or more on DIAAS or PDCAAS means, and it is the stricter sense most people have in mind.

The “complete protein” wording for pistachios traces mainly to a 2023 review in Nutrients by Derbyshire and colleagues, titled “Believe It or ‘Nut’: Why It Is Time to Set the Record Straight on Nut Protein Quality.” Its abstract describes pistachios as “a plant-based complete protein providing all nine EAAs” (essential amino acids) — the first sense above — and cites the PDCAAS values of 73 and 81 for raw and roasted pistachios, the figures measured in pigs by Bailey and Stein. It is a narrative review that collected no new data, and its conflict-of-interest statement says a pistachio growers' trade association commissioned the writing of the manuscript.

Put together: the measurement behind the claim was made in pigs, not people, using standardized ileal digestibility; it produced PDCAAS scores of 73 and 81 and DIAAS scores of 86 and 83; and none of those reaches 100. Pistachios contain all nine indispensable amino acids and rate as a “good” protein by the FAO cut-offs. The research in the pack does not show that pistachio protein meets the stricter “high quality” definition, and no human digestibility study of pistachio protein appears in it.

For a comparison with a plant food that does approach the stricter definition, see quinoa and the complete-protein question.

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The Amino Acid Pattern

The composition data explain why pistachio protein scores better than most tree nuts. Lysine is the amino acid most plant proteins run short of. Dividing the USDA lysine values by each nut's protein gives the amount of lysine per gram of protein:

On composition alone, pistachio protein carries roughly twice the lysine density of almond or walnut protein. Lysine still came out as the limiting amino acid in the pig DIAAS measurement because the score depends on how much lysine is absorbed, not only how much is present — digestibility pulls the effective figure down.

Other features of the pattern from the USDA raw-kernel entry, per 100 grams:

More on lysine itself is on the lysine page.

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The Fiber: How Much and What Kind

USDA FoodData Central lists 10.6 grams of total dietary fiber per 100 grams of raw pistachio kernels, or about 3 grams per ounce — roughly 11 percent of the 28-gram Daily Value used on US food labels. The database reports total fiber only; it does not split pistachio fiber into soluble and insoluble fractions, and no record in the research pack behind this page measures that split, so no figure for it is given here.

What can be said in general terms is what fiber in a nut is. Most of it is the walls of the kernel's own cells — cellulose, hemicelluloses and pectic substances that the human small intestine cannot digest. Those walls matter in two ways:

The general case for dietary fiber, apart from nuts, is covered on the dietary fiber page.

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Satiety and Body Weight Trials

Protein and fiber are the two food components most often linked to fullness, and the pistachio trials set out to test whether a calorie-dense nut leads to weight gain. The full account is in Weight and Mindful Eating; the trials in brief:

Pooled, Asbaghi and colleagues' 2021 meta-analysis of 13 randomised trials (563 participants) found no significant change in body weight, body mass index or waist circumference with pistachios. The consistent finding across these studies is not weight loss caused by pistachios but the absence of the weight gain their calories would predict. Whether protein, fiber, the shelling effort or the unabsorbed calories explain that is not separated in any of these trials.

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Post-Meal Blood Sugar

Protein, fat and fiber all slow the rate at which a meal's carbohydrate reaches the bloodstream. The pistachio glucose studies tested that directly. The full article is Blood Sugar and Diabetes.

Longer trials and meta-analyses are summarised on the sibling page. In brief, Hadi and colleagues' 2023 meta-analysis of eight randomised trials found lower fasting blood sugar and fasting insulin with pistachios but no change in the insulin-resistance index HOMA-IR, while Nowrouzi-Sohrabi and colleagues' 2020 meta-analysis of six trials found lower fasting glucose and HOMA-IR but no significant change in HbA1c or fasting insulin. The results do not line up perfectly, which is typical of a small number of modest trials.

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Gut Microbes

The fiber and cell-wall material that escape digestion are the most likely route by which pistachios affect gut bacteria. The evidence is early. The full article is Gut Microbiome.

Short-chain fatty acids such as butyrate, produced when bacteria ferment fiber, are explained on the gut barrier and microbiome animation page.

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Plant Protein and Fiber in Large Studies

No study has followed people for decades to see whether pistachio protein or pistachio fiber specifically changes long-term health. What exists are large analyses of plant protein and dietary fiber in general, which provide context but cannot be read as findings about pistachios.

Seen against these figures, one ounce of pistachios supplies about 3 grams of fiber — around a tenth of the 25 to 29 grams associated with the largest risk reductions in the Lancet analysis — and about 6 grams of plant protein. The cohort studies are observational, cannot prove cause and effect, and measured whole diets rather than single foods.

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What Is Not Known

The related outcomes of the pistachio trials are covered on Cholesterol and Lipids and Eye Health: Lutein and Zeaxanthin.

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Who the Research Raises Concerns For

Decisions about allergy testing or about diet in kidney disease, where protein and potassium intake are managed, belong with a clinician.

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Connections

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Key Research Papers

  1. Bailey HM, Stein HH. Raw and roasted pistachio nuts (Pistacia vera L.) are 'good' sources of protein based on their digestible indispensable amino acid score as determined in pigs. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 2020;100(10):3878-3885. PubMed PMID: 32323331
  2. Derbyshire E, Higgs J, Feeney MJ, et al. Believe It or 'Nut': Why It Is Time to Set the Record Straight on Nut Protein Quality: Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) Focus. Nutrients. 2023;15(9). PubMed PMID: 37432263
  3. Dreher ML. Pistachio nuts: composition and potential health benefits. Nutrition Reviews. 2012;70(4):234-40. PubMed PMID: 22458696
  4. Bulló M, Juanola-Falgarona M, Hernández-Alonso P, et al. Nutrition attributes and health effects of pistachio nuts. The British Journal of Nutrition. 2015;113 Suppl 2:S79-93. PubMed PMID: 26148925
  5. Fantino M, Bichard C, Mistretta F, et al. Daily consumption of pistachios over 12 weeks improves dietary profile without increasing body weight in healthy women: A randomized controlled intervention. Appetite. 2020;144:104483. PubMed PMID: 31604062
  6. Carughi A, Bellisle F, Dougkas A, et al. A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study to Assess Effects of a Daily Pistachio (Pistacia Vera) Afternoon Snack on Next-Meal Energy Intake, Satiety, and Anthropometry in French Women. Nutrients. 2019;11(4). PubMed PMID: 30986958
  7. Li Z, Song R, Nguyen C, et al. Pistachio nuts reduce triglycerides and body weight by comparison to refined carbohydrate snack in obese subjects on a 12-week weight loss program. Journal of the American College of Nutrition. 2010;29(3):198-203. PubMed PMID: 20833992
  8. Rock CL, Zunshine E, Nguyen HT, et al. Effects of Pistachio Consumption in a Behavioral Weight Loss Intervention on Weight Change, Cardiometabolic Factors, and Dietary Intake. Nutrients. 2020;12(7). PubMed PMID: 32698457
  9. Gulati S, Misra A, Pandey RM, et al. Effects of pistachio nuts on body composition, metabolic, inflammatory and oxidative stress parameters in Asian Indians with metabolic syndrome: a 24-wk, randomized control trial. Nutrition. 2014;30(2):192-7. PubMed PMID: 24377454
  10. Asbaghi O, Hadi A, Campbell MS, et al. Effects of pistachios on anthropometric indices, inflammatory markers, endothelial function and blood pressure in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. The British Journal of Nutrition. 2021;126(5):718-729. PubMed PMID: 33198823
  11. Kendall CW, Josse AR, Esfahani A, et al. The impact of pistachio intake alone or in combination with high-carbohydrate foods on post-prandial glycemia. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2011;65(6):696-702. PubMed PMID: 21364607
  12. Kendall CW, West SG, Augustin LS, et al. Acute effects of pistachio consumption on glucose and insulin, satiety hormones and endothelial function in the metabolic syndrome. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2014;68(3):370-5. PubMed PMID: 24424074
  13. Hadi A, Asbaghi O, Kazemi M, et al. Effects of pistachios on glycaemic control: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. The British Journal of Nutrition. 2023;129(10):1693-1702. PubMed PMID: 35795961
  14. Nowrouzi-Sohrabi P, Hassanipour S, Sisakht M, et al. The effectiveness of pistachio on glycemic control and insulin sensitivity in patients with type 2 diabetes, prediabetes and metabolic syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome. 2020;14(5):1589-1595. PubMed PMID: 32947760
  15. Creedon AC, Hung ES, Berry SE, et al. Nuts and their Effect on Gut Microbiota, Gut Function and Symptoms in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials. Nutrients. 2020;12(8). PubMed PMID: 32781516
  16. Hernández-Alonso P, Cañueto D, Giardina S, et al. Effect of pistachio consumption on the modulation of urinary gut microbiota-related metabolites in prediabetic subjects. The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. 2017;45:48-53. PubMed PMID: 28432876
  17. Naghshi S, Sadeghi O, Willett WC, et al. Dietary intake of total, animal, and plant proteins and risk of all cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. BMJ. 2020;370:m2412. PubMed PMID: 32699048
  18. Ramezani F, Pourghazi F, Eslami M, et al. Dietary fiber intake and all-cause and cause-specific mortality: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Clinical Nutrition. 2024;43(1):65-83. PubMed PMID: 38011755
  19. Reynolds A, Mann J, Cummings J, et al. Carbohydrate quality and human health: a series of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Lancet. 2019;393(10170):434-445. PubMed PMID: 30638909
  20. Reynolds AN, Akerman AP, Mann J. Dietary fibre and whole grains in diabetes management: Systematic review and meta-analyses. PLoS Medicine. 2020;17(3):e1003053. PubMed PMID: 32142510
  21. Arayici ME, Mert-Ozupek N, Yalcin F, et al. Soluble and Insoluble Dietary Fiber Consumption and Colorectal Cancer Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrition and Cancer. 2022;74(7):2412-2425. PubMed PMID: 34854791
  22. Costa J, Silva I, Vicente AA, et al. Pistachio nut allergy: An updated overview. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. 2019;59(4):546-562. PubMed PMID: 28925724
  23. Elizur A, Appel MY, Nachshon L, et al. Cashew oral immunotherapy for desensitizing cashew-pistachio allergy (NUT CRACKER study). Allergy. 2022;77(6):1863-1872. PubMed PMID: 35000223
  24. Stiefel G, Anagnostou K, Boyle RJ, et al. BSACI guideline for the diagnosis and management of peanut and tree nut allergy. Clinical and Experimental Allergy. 2017;47(6):719-739. PubMed PMID: 28836701

PubMed Topic Searches

  1. PubMed: pistachio protein quality (DIAAS / PDCAAS)
  2. PubMed: pistachios and satiety in randomised trials
  3. PubMed: pistachios and post-meal blood sugar
  4. PubMed: pistachios and gut microbiota
  5. PubMed: nut cell walls and metabolizable energy

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