Yolanda Hadid Says 'Have Two Almonds' Comment to Daughter Gigi Hadid Was Taken Out of Context

Yolanda Hadid wants to clear the air about comments she made to her daughter Gigi Hadid about eating almonds on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills almost a decade ago.

"This is taken so far out [of context]," Yolanda, 58, tells PEOPLE while discussing her partnership with Project Healthy Minds, a new millennial/Gen Z mental health tech non-profit that is creating a first-of-its-kind event to combat the stigma of mental health.

"This was a small little clip from Housewives. Gigi was calling because she wasn't feeling good and I apparently said, half asleep, 'Have two almonds.' I don't even remember why two or what. There was no rhyme or reason to it. It's such a silly narrative that is out there, that has nothing to do with the reality of our lives."

In the episode, during season four of the Bravo show, Yolanda is seen coming out of surgery when her daughter calls to tell her she's not feeling well.

"I'm feeling really weak, I had like, half an almond," Gigi tells her mom, who seems to still be feeling the effects of the anesthesia from the surgery. "Have a couple of almonds and chew them really well," Yolanda advises.

"I'd just got out of a six hour surgery to have my breast implants removed," Yolanda explains. "The cameras were there because I wanted to bring awareness to the danger of breast implants."

However, Yolanda was often seen on the show keeping a close watch on her daughter's diet as Gigi tried to follow in her mom's footsteps to be a supermodel.

"You can have one night of being bad," Yolanda said to Gigi as she told her she was excited for the food at her birthday party. "And then, you've got to get back on your diet."

The grandma to Gigi's daughter Khai, 2, also poked fun at her comments in a recent TikTok video where she's seen walking around her Pennsylvania farm snacking on a large bowl of almonds, calling herself the #worstmomever.

The joke fell flat on TikTok though, which flagged the video with a warning for users. "Participating in this activity could result in getting you or others hurt," the social media outlet posted.

"I always have a bag of almonds or a different kind of nut in my bag because when my blood sugar drops, I can grab a hand of nuts and eat them," Yolanda tells PEOPLE. "It's really good for that. But it's not that I use it as a diet food. I don't believe in diets anyway."

Yolanda has suffered from Lyme disease, which she has been able to manage partially with healthy eating.

"For me, I eat super clean and super healthy because I need to for keeping the inflammation down in my body," the author of Believe Me says. "If I eat something that isn't right for me, I get inflammation and aggravates the Lyme [Disease] in my system. I am not about diets to lose weight. For me, a healthy diet is a healthy life style which for me translates into feeling good and managing my life."