Going Nuts for Nuts. Part 1

Overview

Nuts are packed with nutrition, but they are also packed with calories.

Increased nut consumption has been associated with a reduced risk of major chronic diseases, including heart disease and diabetes.

• Researchers at Harvard “examined the association between nut consumption and subsequent mortality.
  • Over a hundred thousand people followed for decades. In that time, tens of thousands died, but those that ate nuts every day lived significantly longer.
  • Daily nut consumers had fewer cancer deaths, heart disease deaths, and fewer deaths from respiratory disease.
  • Controlled other lifestyle factors.
    • nut consumers lived significantly longer whether they were older or younger, fat or skinny, whether they exercised more or smoked, drank, or ate other foods that may affect mortality.
  • Concern that frequent nut consumption can result in weight gain secondary to high-fat content they are also packed with calories.
    • other studies have associated nut consumption with a slimmer waist, less weight gain, and lower risk of obesity.
    • Recent such studies, in which subjects were told to add either zero, 70, or 120 pistachios to their daily diet as an afternoon snack, every day for three months, and resulted in no difference in weight.
      • it appears, the incorporation of nuts—around one or two small handfuls a day—would be advisable to ensure various health benefits, without the risk of body weight gain.
    • A review published back in 2007, looking at 20 clinical trials that had been done on nuts and weight. And not even one showed the weight gain one would expect. Some did show weight gain, but not as much as predicted.
      • Add three handfuls of peanuts to people’s daily diets for a few weeks, and they should gain eight pounds—but instead, only gained about two. What happened to the thousands of missing calories?
      • Same thing with walnuts. After six months of a handful of walnuts a day, they should have gained about twelve pounds—but instead, just gained one.
      • A study added two handfuls of nuts a day for six months. That’s 320 calories added to their daily diet. They should have gained more than 16 pounds—but instead, gained less than one. The women in the study only gained about a quarter of a pound.
      • Three-quarters of a cup of pecans added to their daily diet for eight weeks. With 450 calories added to their daily diet, they should have gained about a pound a week—but didn’t gain an ounce.
        • Calories vanished into thin air. What happened?
      • isoenergetic studies (adjusted the calories to ensure people would stay the same weight) people miraculously lost more weight eating nuts.
        • Subjects could eat only out of the “Metabolic Kitchen,” in which food portions were calculated to the nearest gram.
        • Both groups were given the same kind of diet, but one group was given handfuls of pecans. To ensure no weight changes, they made sure the diets had the same number of calories, by reducing the portion sizes of the rest of the diet in the nut group. So, in the end, each group was supposed to get 2,400 calories a day. Now, when they chemically analyzed the diets, it turns out that the nut group ended up getting an extra 100 calories a day—which makes it even crazier that the nut group lost weight. That’s not supposed to happen.
        • The phenomenon here. People were given 400 calories of almonds, muffins, or half almonds/half muffins. Again, they tried to make all three diets the same number of calories. But, the nut groups ended up with more calories—yet ended up the same or lower weight. How was that even possible?
        • These studies were just a few weeks to months, what about the long-term?
          • looked at in different ways, in studies lasting from one year to six years.
          • One found no significant change; the other five out of six measures found significantly less weight gain, and risk of abdominal obesity, in those eating more nuts.
        • In one study subjects had three handfuls of peanuts added to their diet, and still didn’t gain the expected weight? Well, nut calories may not count as much, but candy calories do. Two weeks of overfeeding with candy increase body weight, but the same number of calories of nuts did not.
        • pistachios versus pretzels
          • same amount of calories
          • significantly greater drop in body mass index in the pistachio group
        • The bottom line is that so far, every single study in which they added nuts to people’s diets without trying to restrict calories failed to show the expected weight gain—whether it was just less than predicted, no weight gain at all, or they even lost weight.
        • what happened to the missing calories?
          • The evidence is stronger than ever that the consumption of nuts does not lead to the weight gain one would expect.
          • nuts seem to boost fat burning within the body.
            • It could have something to do with the amino acid arginine or the phytonutrients found in nuts and green tea.
          • Nut consumption has been associated with lower rates of heart disease and living a longer life. We should include them in our regular diet without worrying that they’re going to make us fat.

[ The following is the full transcript from this week's post. This is a health blog with a focus on weight loss. Please consider that all episodes are unscripted, direct to the camera, with focused talking points. ]

Hello.

Welcome to today’s podcast: So, when we talk about health and wellness, often people want to talk about weight loss.

Today, I want to talk about nutrition because that is really important because you can be the appropriate weight and still be unhealthy.

So, I want to talk about the nuts and the value derive from consuming them.

We know that nuts are packed with nutrients, but we also know that nuts are packed with fat and calories.

First, are there any health benefits in the consumption of nuts?

There was a large study done by a group out of Harvard, that looked at this question and said does nut consumption add value to your life, or longevity? Or is it just add calories to your life?

Well, they looked at over 100,000 people, and they follow these people for years. And obviously, during that time period, some of their subjects died.

But they wanted to see, what was the health benefits about.

And so, in following these people, they basically found that the group that had to consume nuts daily, we have fewer cancer deaths, less heart disease, basically fewer deaths from respiratory problems, a pretty significant difference in the groups that ate nuts daily, compared to those, that didn’t. When they looked at this, they control that for other lifestyle barrier variables, so they found, whether your older, young are still applicable, whether your fat or skinny, what you exercise or not, whether you smoke or drink.

All those things were basically controlled, and they still found that the group that consumed nuts, had a decrease in a broad spectrum of illnesses of death.

One of the concerns in consuming nuts is weight gain, and that is because we know that nuts are calorie-dense, and have a high-fat content.

So, today, I want to talk about, does nut consumption cause weight gain, or how does it affect your weight.

Well, there have been numerous studies that have basically shown nut consumption is something that can decrease your weight. And lead to a slimmer waist.

But I wanted to kind of do a deeper dive into that.

The first thing I wanted to talk about, real quick is a study on the consumption of pistachios.

They basically, in this study, took three different groups and one group did not consume any pistachios and the other group to about 70 pistachios a day.

And another group 120 pistachios and they were basically asked really, not changing anything else in your diet. Just add these as a snack in the afternoon and, they did this for three months.

The interesting thing was there was no difference in weight in these three different groups despite the fact. 1 group eating 0 pistachios and another eating 120, which is a significant difference in calories consumed each day.

So, this causes people to think about how does nut consumption look affects our weight?

So, other studies started to investigate this.

Now, this is being driven by the fact that there is evidence to support that nut consumption is helpful for your health.

But, a lot of people worry about eating nuts, because like I said at the high-fat content and the calorie denseness.

So, there was a published study that basically looked at 20 different clinical trials related to nuts and weight gain.

And, out of those 20 studies, there was not one that showed weight gain. That would be unexpected.

And what I mean by that is some of the studies showed some weight gain but based on the number of calories that the subjects were eating; they did not gain as much as predicted.

But then other studies show no weight gain.

So basically, in one study, they had them eat a handful of peanuts in their diet for a few weeks.

And they calculated that the subjects should have gained anywhere, around eight pounds, but instead, they only gained two.

And that was confusing, because if you look at it, we always talk about calorie deficit calories in, calories out.

So that does not really kind of fit those laws of physics if you will.

They also looked at walnuts.

In another study, they have four walnuts daily for about six months.

They should have gained about 12 pounds, but instead, they just gained one.

Then, in another study, they had basically two handfuls of nuts. So that is approximately 320 calories or additional calories to their diet.

Then we look at these subjects they should have gained about 16 pounds based on the increase in calories.

But instead, really they only gained less than one. In fact, women in the study only gain a quarter pound.

In another study, they basically gave the subjects three-quarters of a cup of pecans daily, for eight weeks, that is another 450 calories added to their diet, they should have gained about a pound a week. But they basically did not gain any pounds.

Why are these calories vanishing, and what is happening here?

So, other studies that they did then were basically what they call actual energetic study, in which they adjust the calories that people are eating so that they are basically the same number of calories.

But what, what the calories come from may be different.

So, one group, ate out what is called a metabolic kitchen where they were confined, only eating a very specific regiment of foods that are calculated and prepared for them.

And so, basically, these groups were divided into two different groups.

Basically, one group was getting nuts, and the other group basically was having other dietary components, but the end result, they both were getting 2400 calories a day.

So, the same number of calories, but a different method of getting those calories, as I said, one group was eating nuts with the other not.

And, when they looked at the data after this, they found out that the group, that was getting nuts, was getting about 100 calories a day more, than the other group.

So even despite trying to make sure both groups were getting the same number of calories, one group got about 100 calories a day more, but the interesting news is, the nut group lost weight.

That is not supposed to happen.

Based on what we read, and are told, the calorie deficit is what supports, starting to make one wonder, are nuts doing something that also has an impact.

Another study, basically, gave, 400 Groups, 400 calories, of almonds, or muffins, or half almond, and muffins, and again, extreme different groups.

Basically, they are eating the same number of calories, but the method of getting those calories, whether it is almonds or muffins, or a combination of both, what's different?

And the interesting thing is, that nut group really ended up the same or lower weight.

So, nuts are having some type of impact, it is not clear here.

In another study, they basically gave a handful of peanuts, to people, and they still did not gain the weight that was expected.

They kind of say, maybe the nut calories do not count.

With this study, they increase the subject’s caloric intake.

But one group's caloric increase came from peanuts, and the other group was candy.

And they found that the candy group had an increase in their body weight, but the nuts group did not. So same number of calories, method with delivering those are different one.

So that creates kind of this confusion of what is going on with nuts.

Another study they looked at was pistachios versus pretzels.

So, again, the same number of calories, but there was a significant drop in body mass index in the pistachio group.

So, while there is still a lot unknown, nuts seem to have some type of beneficial effect for us both in our overall health, but just as important is that nut does not necessarily cause a significant amount of weight gain.

Now, I do want to preface that by they are calorie-dense.

So, in reality, you are consuming a significant number of calories.

On eating nuts and the studies we were talking to 1 or 2 handfuls of nuts a day, not a whole jar split.

So, there is a lot of evidence that, that nuts do not actually cause weight gain, that you would expect, either no weight gain, or minimal weight gain, or even some, say, show weight loss.

Seems to be one of the factors that they believe, is happening is nuts basically are boosting your fat metabolism or burning your fat.

Some studies show that may be related to amino acid marginally, or the final nutrients found in nuts.

But there is something going on with nuts that allows us to benefit from the nutrient content, without gaining significant weight.

So, it is important to understand that nut consumption is associated with lower rates of heart disease.

People live longer with a daily ritual of consuming some nuts.

And it probably should incorporate in our daily diet and really do not have a lot of fear, if we are reasonable in moderation, of gaining excess weight.

So, their story is still going.

But the evidence shows that nuts are helpful. You do not have to worry about gaining much weight by the moderation of the daily consumption of nuts.

So, now, in the next part, I want to talk about, what are the health benefits of the daily consumption of nuts?

So, join us next time.

We are going to talk about the health benefits of consuming nuts.

Thank you.

Kelly Cox MD, FACEP

Member, American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine