It’s no secret that nuts are good for you. But if you're always trying to keep your servings small, there may be a new reason to start indulging. Loading up on them may reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes—without spurring weight gain, according to two new meta-analyses from the Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Centre of St. Michael’s Hospital.
For the first analysis, researchers reviewed 12 clinical trials that compared the effects of eating diets infused with tree nuts compared to those that didn’t on persons with diabetes. They found that eating about two servings a day of tree nuts greatly improved their blood sugar control.
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In the second one, they analyzed the findings of 49 randomized control trials (that included a total of 2,226 participants) on nut consumption and metabolic syndrome, the name for a group of risk factors that increases the risk of heart disease and other health problems such as diabetes and strokes. They determined that those who loaded up on tree nuts reduced two of the five markers for metabolic syndrome: blood sugars and triglycerides.
And get this: Even though nuts are high in calories and fat—and the participants in the trials ate nearly ½ cup of them a day—they didn’t gain weight. How on earth can you make room for all of those filling nuts? Eat them in place of refined carbohydrates, suggest the researchers, who note that people who ate tree nuts in place of refined carbohydrates rather than in place of saturated fats fared the best.
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While the reviews didn't examine how nuts improve these health markers, experts believe that their combination of healthy fats, antioxidants, and minerals have something to do with it. In fact, one previous meta-analysis found that people who ate nuts on a near-daily basis were 29 percent less likely to die from heart disease, 11 percent less likely to die from cancer, and 20 percent less likely to die from diabetes or lung diseases.
So go ahead, grab a handful. Or, if you want, make it two.
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