President Obama says reports he eats precisely seven almonds each night are a joke that got out of hand.

“Well, this is an example of the weird way that the press works,” he said in an interview that aired Thursday on NBC’s “Today.”

{mosads}“All my friends were calling me up and they’re saying, ‘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 detailed how first lady Michelle Obama is responsible for accounts of his extreme snacking regimen.

“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 really have potato chips or I didn’t have a piece of cake,” he told host Savannah Guthrie.

“And this is when Michelle said, ‘Yes, and he just has seven almonds,’ to really drive the point home I need to loosen up a bit. And Sam relayed this joke to The New York Times in the article and somehow it was relayed as if I were counting out the seven almonds.”

“Michelle and I would always joke: Not six, not eight,” Kass told The New York Times on July 2. “Always seven almonds.”

Guthrie asked Obama Thursday if he splurges on the treat during late nights guiding the nation at the White House.

“Are you going to let yourself go and have like, 10 or 11 almonds?” she asked.

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