Nutritious nuts!

Clients are often a little incredulous when I suggest adding nuts to their diet “but I’m trying to lose weight!” is the usual retort, the assumption being that calorific nuts will hamper their efforts. Surprisingly though, in 20 clinical trials, there was less than the expected weight gain when adding hundreds of extra calories of nuts to diets; in many of these trials there was no weight gain, and in some, weight loss. When nuts have been added to a low fat diet in trials, no weight gain has occurred. Across studies, increased nut consumption was linked to lower body mass index; the slimmest people seem to eat the most nuts. This may be because 20% of nut calories are burnt off; the nuts increase the body’s metabolism due to the arginine and flavonoid phytonutrients they contain. Another 10% of nut calories never make it into the body as tough, fibrous cell walls are not digested and are instead flushed down the toilet!

Here are a few benefits from eating nuts:

⬇️ heart attacks

⬇️strokes

⬇️cholesterol

⬇️deaths from cancer

⬇️respiratory disease

⬇️inflammation

⬇️pain

⬇️erectile dysfunction

⬆️sperm count, vitality, motility and shape

⬆️orgasmic function 

⬆️arterial function

⬆️lifespan by 2 years (few servings of nuts per week)

Takeaway:

Eat nuts everyday, they are delicious, satiating and incredibly good for you! All nuts have these benefits and walnuts seem particularly good; in one study eating 3 servings of walnuts per week cut the participants risk of dying from cancer in half. Aim for at least 1 serving of nuts a day. 1 serving = 1/4 cup nuts or seeds, or 2 tablespoons nut or seed butter.