Well, if the saying, “You are what you eat” is true – I hope I’m a nut!
Loma Linda University nutrition department is well-known for their studies on nuts in correlation with reduced health risks. I recently found out that the Adventist Health Study (AHS) (a long-term, cohort study) was the first study to discover the relationship between nut consumption and lower risks of heart disease and the connection between lycopene-rich foods (like tomatoes) and reduced risks for prostate cancer. How awesome is that?!
Some of my professors have been conducting research studies on nuts since this information was released.
As a lover of food and an advocate of health/wellness I felt inspired to share some of the great findings with you all. Many people think that eating foods high in fat will contribute to weight gain, but when examining the consumption of nuts (and I’m talking huge population sample sizes here) this isn’t true.
Harvard Medical School caught wind of this research and cited the AHS in their monthly publication, “Harvard Women’s Health Watch” a few years back in one of the articles – “The benefits of a handful of nuts.”
Here is the online version of the article:
http://harvardhealth.staywell.com/viewNewsletter.aspx?NLID=60&INC=yes
Interesting Nut Notes: Review of studies
Within controlled studies (meaning participants were under strict observational supervision) nuts not only prevented weight gain, but participants in the ‘nut group’ had their caloric intake increased just to maintain the same body weight, otherwise they would have lost weight.
When studying specific foods or nutrients, researchers can either have participants replace one food with another (maintaining the same caloric intake), or they can ask participants to simply add the food or nutrient to their regular diet. When participants replaced a food item and ate a serving of nuts each day while maintaining the same caloric intake, weight did not change. This is interesting because nuts are a fatty food and when other fatty foods are replaced in the diet, this is not the regular response. Then, when participants were simply asked to add nuts to their regular food intake, there was weight gain, but less than expected (only 0.6 kg instead of 3.6 kg).
Other studies examining weight loss found that calorie-restricted diets with low fat or moderate fat found weight loss in both groups but it was greater in the group that ate nuts and a drop in waist circumference was greater in the nut group, too. Guess which group was able to sustain the weight loss over an extended period of time? You guessed it, the nut group.
So why does this happen?
Well, there are a few possible mechanisms:
1. It may be that those who are naturally health-minded also tend to eat nuts; those who eat nuts may be more likely to incorporate physical activity into daily routines, displace the saturated fats with the nut fat, and make other beneficial food choices (ie eating more fruits, vegetables, and fiber-rich foods).
2. Nuts may increase your sense of feeling full. Satiety is linked to high fiber, low glycemic index foods, protein, and unsaturated fatty acids. Nuts are all of these.
3. Thermogenesis (the amount of energy it takes for your body to digest food) has been shown to increase by 10% when nut consumption is present.
4. Nuts are not fully digested. Due to the composition of nuts, not all of the fat is absorbed by the body.
What does all this mean? Should we go out and start eating nuts every meal of every day? – No. But eating a serving (one ounce) of nuts each day may promote healthy weight and help you to displace other fats that are not as healthy. It’s important to remember the recommended amount of fat is 20-35% of total calories. Nuts aren’t just a source of fat, they also have protein, vitamins, and phytochemicals!
What does one ounce of nuts look like?
~ 14 shelled walnut halves
~ 20-24 shelled whole almonds
~ 28 peanuts
~ 18-20 pecan halves
Below you will find a few research abstracts to nibble on.
Until the next recipe,
Blessings of health and abundant life,
Lindsay
Abstracts
Nuts and healthy body weight maintenance mechanisms.
“Nuts are rich sources of multiple nutrients and phytochemicals associated with health benefits, including reduced cardiovascular disease risk. This has prompted recommendations to increase their consumption. However, they are also high in fat and are energy dense. The associations between these properties, positive energy balance and body weight raise questions about such recommendations. Numerous epidemiological and clinical studies show that nuts are not associated with weight gain. Mechanistic studies indicate this is largely attributable to the high satiety and low metabolizable energy (poor bioaccessibility leading to inefficient energy absorption) properties of nuts. Compensatory dietary responses account for 55-75% of the energy provided by nuts. Limited data suggest that routine nut consumption is associated with elevated resting energy expenditure and the thermogenic effect of feeding, resulting in dissipation of another portion of the energy they provide. Additionally, trials contrasting weight loss through regimens that include or exclude nuts indicate improved compliance and greater weight loss when nuts are permitted. Nuts may be included in the diet, in moderation, to enhance palatability, nutrient quality, and chronic disease risk reduction without compromising weight loss or maintenance.”
Mattes R, Dreher M. Nuts and healthy body weight maintenance mechanisms. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition [serial online]. March 2010;19(1):137-141. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 3, 2011.
Impact of Peanuts and Tree Nuts on Body Weight and Healthy Weight Loss in Adults.
“Nuts (ground and tree) are rich sources of multiple nutrients and their consumption is associated with health benefits, including reduced cardiovascular disease risk. This has prompted recommendations to increase their consumption. However, they are also high in fat (albeit largely unsaturated) and are energy dense. The associations between these properties, positive energy balance, and body weight raise questions about such recommendations. This issue is addressed through a review of the literature pertaining to the association between nut consumption and energy balance. Epidemiological studies document an inverse association between the frequency of nut consumption and BMI. Clinical trials reveal little or no weight change with inclusion of various types of nuts in the diet over 1-6 mo. Mechanistic studies indicate this is largely attributable to the high satiety property of nuts, leading to compensatory responses that account for 65-75% of the energy they provide. Limited data suggest chronic consumption is associated with elevated resting energy expenditure resulting in dissipation of another portion of the energy they provide. Additionally, due to poor bioaccessibility, there is limited efficiency of energy absorption from nuts. Collectively, these mechanisms offset much of the energy provided by nuts. The few trials contrasting weight loss through regimens that include or exclude nuts indicate improved compliance and greater weight loss when nuts are permitted. This consistent literature suggests nuts may be included in the diet, in moderation, to enhance palatability and nutrient quality without posing a threat for weight gain.”
Mattes R, Kris-etherton P, Fosters G. Impact of Peanuts and Tree Nuts on Body Weight and Healthy Weight Loss in Adults. Journal of Nutrition [serial online]. September 2008;138(9):1741S-1745. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 3, 2011.
Veg Out 