Nuts and Weight Management

Nuts and Weight Management

Nuts such as almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, chestnuts, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts are packed full of beneficial nutrients for good health. Despite what many people believe, eating nuts regularly can actually help achieve and maintain a healthy body weight. When incorporated into a moderate fat, kilojoule-controlled diet, nuts can prevent weight gain and help enhance the enjoyment of a weight loss diet, helping you stick to your healthy eating plan for longer! When searching for diet foods, it is important not to discount some healthy fats, which can be found in many nuts. Keep reading to see which nuts are healthiest, and best for weight loss.

Satisfying Hunger

Due to the fibre and high amount of protein found in most nuts, they can help manage weight by satisfying hunger for longer. A small handful of nuts (around 30g) can result in less food being eaten later in the day, therefore helping control overall kilojoule (energy) intake. Moderate amounts of fat may also keep weight off for longer. Research shows that when people lose weight, only 14% keep their weight off in the long term. One of the reasons may be that traditional low fat, high carbohydrate diets often recommended for weight loss are not as appetising as other styles of eating. If you're looking for easy ways to lose weight, try incorporating nuts into your diet to help stop those sugar cravings. A recent study tested the idea that by including moderate amounts of foods high in healthy fats in a weight loss diet, people would enjoy their food more and would stick to their diet for longer. The results of the study showed that this was indeed the case. After 18 months, people who followed the moderate fat, low kilojoule, Mediterranean style diet, lost more weight than people on the traditional low fat, low kilojoule diet. In fact, the people on the low-fat diet actually gained an average of 2.9kg! The researchers reported that because the moderate fat diet included foods like nuts, peanut butter and olive oil, the diet was tastier and made it is easier to stick to in the long term.

How much and how often?

Enjoying 30g of nuts (a small handful) most days a week has maximum benefits for general health. Losing weight can be made a lot easier by including nuts! And with so many to choose from, you won't struggle to find some nuts you can enjoy and include in a weight loss program. To help manage your weight, substitute foods like biscuits, cakes, pastries and fried snack foods with a snack of nuts and fruit.

Try the following to enjoy nuts as part of your healthy eating plan:

• Snack on plain, unsalted nuts throughout the day. Look for raw or dry roasted nuts to avoid extra added fat.
• Sprinkle pine nuts or halved walnuts through a stir-fry
• Roast hazelnuts or chestnuts and toss them through a salad
• Sprinkle crushed roasted hazelnuts onto a warming soup for winter
• Crush almonds over low-fat yoghurt and fruit
• Sprinkle a handful of chopped macadamias or Brazil nuts over a wholegrain breakfast cereal
• Mix crushed pecans or pistachios with breadcrumbs and herbs for a tasty chicken stuffing
• Add slivered almonds to fresh Asian roll-ups or rice paper rolls

References

This information was provided by Nuts For Life. Images and Videos were provided by Nuts For Life.Nuts for Life For further information on nuts and health, refer to www.nutsforlife.com.au or phone 02 8295 2300