TLDR – there’s a big difference between eating a whole almond than an almond that’s been ground up – actually, there are about 30% more calories in the ground up almond.
Data Point: “Studies show that eating butter causes a rise in blood cholesterol, especially LDL or the ‘bad’ kind. However, eating hard cheese that contains the same amount of fat and has a similar fatty acid composition as butter can cause a much smaller rise in blood cholesterol levels, no rise at all or even a fall.”
Read here: Why are scientists so intrigued by the food matrix?