It is a dilemma when on a diet, nuts have some health benefits but they are also highly calorific. So should you scoff, moderate or avoid? There have been studies looking at consumption of nuts in weight loss diets, and although the effect was either positive (i.e. increased weight loss) or neutral (no effect) the duration of the studies was relatively short (10-24 weeks).
Now researchers from Temple University, The University of Pennsylvania and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have published their findings that eating an almond enriched diet for 18 months lead to the same weight loss as eating a diet devoid of nuts. But more interestingly, although the group avoiding nuts lost more weight initially, the group eating almonds had lower levels of bad cholesterol.
The paper is published ahead of print on The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition website.