When it comes to eating right and staying in top shape, there are plenty of nutritional advice out there, but if there’s one thing research consistently confirms, it’s that nuts are an important addition to a balanced diet.
In fact, according to new research published in the journal Nutrients, eating nut snacks may even be a way to reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome in younger adults. Here’s what they found.
Studying Nut Consumption and Metabolic Syndrome Risk
In this study, researchers at Vanderbilt University wanted to assess how nut intake affects the risk of metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome includes a variety of conditions such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess fat around the waist, and many other conditions, which are associated with a high risk of stroke, diabetes, and heart disease.
They conducted a 16-week randomized intervention trial with 84 young people between the ages of 22 and 26 with a BMI outside the healthy range.
What do all participants have to do? Replace your typical carbohydrate-rich afternoon snack with nuts. More specifically, nut snacks include 1/4 cup of unsalted raw cashews, pistachios, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, walnuts, and almonds.
After 16 weeks, participants who ate nuts daily experienced a decrease in triglycerides. In addition, female participants experienced a reduction in waist circumference and visceral fat, while male participants experienced a reduction in blood insulin levels compared to those who did not eat nuts.
Overall, replacing carbohydrate-rich snacks with nuts can help reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome by 67% for women and 42% for men.
What to Do?
According to the study’s authors, their findings suggest that daily consumption of nuts can help reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome by “improving waist circumference, lipid biomarkers, and/or insulin sensitivity without calorie restriction.”
This is great news for those who want to focus on metabolic health. After all, one in three people in the United States has metabolic syndrome, a major risk factor for severe disease.
Additionally, considering that nuts are rich in protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants, focusing on metabolic health is just another reason to incorporate them into your daily diet.
Conclusion
There are many reasons to include more nuts in your diet, and this study can add to that as well. This study shows that by eating a quarter cup a day for 16 weeks, you can significantly reduce your risk of metabolic syndrome without changing your other eating habits.