According to a new study by researchers from the University of South Australia, nuts can be an integral part of calorie-controlled diets in weight loss strategies without impeding the progress and even enhancing it. In a review of the seven randomized controlled trials in energy-restrictive diets, researchers found that adding nuts to both energy-restricted diets had no impairment on weight reduction.
According to Professor Alison Coates, a UniSA researcher, nuts are highly nutritional and contrary to the popular belief that the calorie and fat content of nuts may lead to weight gain, nuts should actually be considered in weight-loss programs. Of the seven trials reviewed in this study, four demonstrated that participants who included 42-84 grams of nuts daily in their energy-restrictive diet showed a significantly greater weight loss compared to the participants on a similar energy-restrictive diet but without nuts.
That is, the extra weight loss for "nut-enriched" diets was in the range of 1.4-7.4 kilograms, with researchers believing the reason lies in the very satiating nature of nuts. As co-author Dr. Sharayah Carter commented, these findings were really promising for people who love nuts, as it will help to pepper in some pounds along with ensuring other health benefits.
The conclusions of the study are very reassuring for health professionals, in that they now have a basis upon which to advise nuts as part of balanced diet advice without concerns about negative impacts on weight.
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