President Barack Obama eats an undetermined number of french fries in 2012. | Getty Obama: No, I don't really eat seven almonds every night

President Barack Obama is not as particular about his almonds as it may have come across in a New York Times article.

"A lot of people were interested to learn that you have a late-night snack every night of exactly seven almonds," NBC News' Savannah Guthrie said in an interview with Obama aired Thursday on "Today."


Obama, laughing, thanked Guthrie for mentioning it and then attempted to set the record straight.

"Why not eight?" Guthrie inquired.

"Well, this is an example of the weird way that the press works," Obama said. "So Michelle and Sam Kass, who was our chef here, one night they were talking about me and teasing me about how disciplined I was, that I didn't have potato chips or I didn’t have a piece of cake. And this is when Michelle said, 'Yes, and he just has seven almonds. That’s it.' To really drive home the point that I needed to loosen up a little bit. And Sam relayed this joke to The New York Times in the article and somehow it was relayed as if I was counting out ... the seven almonds."

The president said he received phone calls from friends who told him, "'You know, this seems a little anal. This is kind of weird.'"

"And I had to explain to them, no, this was a joke," Obama said.

Guthrie followed up: "After the White House, are you going to let yourself go and have like, 10 or 11 almonds?"

"Absolutely. But, you know, almonds are a good snack. I strongly recommend them," Obama said, adding, "I am so glad I had this opportunity. Because ... This has been really weighing on me."

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