Eating tree nuts tied to lowered obesity risk

A new U.S. study adds to growing evidence that nuts – once considered too fattening to be healthy – may in fact help keep weight down, in addition to offering other health benefits.
Researchers found that study participants who ate the most tree nuts – such as almonds, pistachios and walnuts – were between 37 and 46 percent less likely to be obese than those who ate the fewest tree nuts.
People who ate the most nuts were also less likely to have a suite of risk factors known as metabolic syndrome, which is tied to increased risk of heart disease and diabetes.
“This is another study that shows there is an association between eating nuts and not being obese and having less tendency to have metabolic syndrome,” says Dr. Joan Sabaté.
Sabaté is the study’s senior author from Loma Linda University in California.
In another recent study, researchers found that people who reported eating the most nuts were less likely to die over a 24-year period than those who ate the fewest nuts.
While such evidence can’t show that nuts cause the differences seen between people who love them and those who pass them by, there are reasons to believe nuts provide a direct benefit, Sabaté said.
For example, nuts are high in unsaturated fat, which is known as a “good” fat compared to the saturated fat found in animal products. The high protein content of nuts may also lead people to feel fuller and eat less unhealthy foods. They also contain of host of other nutrients and plant chemicals that are beneficial to health, Sabaté said.
Jeffrey Blumberg, a professor of nutrition at Tufts University remarked on the studies’ results, “It really is at a point now where I think there is a large body of evidence and is – I would even say – a consensus of nuts being a healthful food choice if consumed in reasonable amounts.”