Nuts are a fast and healthy source of protein and good fat, able to stave off hunger cravings and keep the cookies at bay. Two new studies suggest consuming nuts might lower your risk of diabetes, too.
A Spanish study conducted on 49 overweight or obese patients showed that eating half a cup of pistachios a day resulted in reduced fasting glucose, insulin production and insulin resistance. And the patients didn’t gain weight. Another study in Spain on 8,865 women and men found that those who ate nuts two or more times a week had a 31 percent lower risk of gaining wight than those non-nut eaters.
Meanwhile, researchers at Purdue University in Indiana found that patients at high risk for type 2 diabetes who ate a third of a cup of almonds every day had lower sugar levels than those who didn’t. Furthermore, the nuts helped patients feel fuller and more satisfied if they ate them as a snack (as opposed to with meals.) And again, the subjects didn’t gain weight.
A study that lasted 16 years found that women who ate nuts five times a week or more had a 36 percent lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than women who never or almost never ate nuts.
Funding for the project looking at body weight and obesity and nut consumption was provided by the National Institutes of Health.
Sources: MedScape Medical News
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, "Long-term associations of nut consumption with body weight and obesity", June 27, 2014
Jackson and Hu, Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public health
Pamela Hasterok