An ounce of nuts a day can keep the doctor away and the numbers down on the scale. Nuts don’t only provide fat-loss benefits but also a myriad of other health benefits. With that said, the British Journal of Nutrition completed a study where overweight individuals followed a calorie restricted diet that contained nuts. And it was found that combining both allowed for greater fat-loss. Click on through to find out exactly which nuts you should be incorporating into your diet.
Walnuts
A recent study published by the Journal of Nutrition indicated that one serving of walnuts contains 39 calories less than what is listed in the USDA Nutrient Database, which is 185 calories. Dr. David J. Baer, PhD, Supervisory Research Physiologist at the Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) led the study, saying, “Given the potential health benefits of consuming walnuts, including the reduced risk for cardiovascular disease, it is worthwhile to understand the calories content of walnuts in the human diet and potentially reduce the barriers to their consumption.”
The study involved 18 healthy adults who followed a controlled American diet without walnuts for three weeks and then a controlled diet with a 1.5 serving of walnuts for another three weeks. Calorie levels were measured using bomb calorimetry, which is a method to calculate the energy of a reaction or what is better known as the digestibility of food. The conclusion: don’t worry about calories.
Other Health Benefits:
Walnuts contain cancer-fighting properties.
Due to the abundance of ALA and the amino acid l-arginine, walnuts boosts heart health.
Studies have indicated that walnuts can improve reproductive health in men.
The super nut has neuroprotective compounds that support brain health.
Almonds
A study published by the Journal of American Heart Association demonstrated that almonds could help shed away that stubborn belly fat. The study was conducted by Penn State University, which involved 52 participants who were overweight and had high cholesterol. Each participant followed a diet that aimed to lower cholesterol by incorporating snacks like a banana muffin or whole almonds.
It was found that those who ate almonds had a significant decrease in their cholesterol along with abdominal fat. Claire Berryman, a researcher of the study says, “Our research found that substituting almonds for a high-carbohydrate snack improved numerous heart health risk factors, including new finding that eating almonds reduced belly fat.”
Almonds are also a great source of folic acid and biotin, which are anti-aging vitamins.