Review looks into the inverse relationship between long-term nut consumption and obesity

In this study, researchers at Iran University of Medical Sciences summarized the findings of prospective studies on the relationship between long-term nut consumption and obesity. This review article was published in the journal Nutrition Research.

• Nuts contain a variety of nutrients and bioactive compounds that promote metabolic health.
• However, their high energy density makes them possible contributors to weight gain.
• To determine if this is indeed the case, the researchers searched online databases for prospective cohort studies investigating the relationship between consumption of total nut and/or nut subtypes and changes in weight, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC), as well as risk of overweight/obesity.
• They found six papers that had a follow-up duration of at least one year, four of which showed an inverse association between nut consumption (at least one to two servings per week) and weight gain and overweight/obesity risk.
• Of the remaining two studies, which evaluated the association between nut intake and changes in WC, only one reported a significant inverse association.

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that higher nut consumption helps reduce weight gain and the risk of obesity.

Journal Reference:

Eslami O, Shidfar F, Dehnad A. INVERSE ASSOCIATION OF LONG-TERM NUT CONSUMPTION WITH WEIGHT GAIN AND RISK OF OVERWEIGHT/OBESITY: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. Nutrition Research. August 2019;68:1–8. DOI: 10.1016/j.nutres.2019.04.001