New research from the University of South Australia shows that including nuts in calorie-controlled weight loss diets does not hinder weight loss, and instead may have the opposite effect. The work is in the journal . Analyzing the findings of seven randomized controlled trials that assessed weight changes and glycemic control in energy-restrictive (ER) diets, researchers found that none of the studies produced an adverse effect to weight loss when nuts were included as part of the .
Instead, four out of the seven studies showed that people who ate 42–84g of nuts as part of an ER diet achieved significantly more weight loss than those on ER diets without nuts. Weight loss from the 'nut-enriched' ER diets achieved an extra 1.4–7.
4 kg which may be related to the ability of nuts to help curb hunger efficiently. Interestingly, in the studies that showed no difference in weight loss between 'nut-enriched' and 'nut-free' ER diets, the diets typically included fewer nuts. This is good news for people looking to manage their weight, particularly with the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data showing 67% of Australian adults are living with overweight or obesity.
UniSA researcher Professor Alison Coates says nuts are a nutrient-rich food that should be included in weight-loss diets. "People often avoid nuts when trying to lose weight because they think that the energy and fat content in nuts can contribute to weight gain," Prof Coates says. "But in fact, nuts are rich .