Walnuts For Weight Loss Review

The internet is abuzz today after news that eating walnuts daily can help you lose weight.

A new study shows that the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer dropped in individuals who ate nuts seven times or more per week compared to those who never ate them. That group also exhibited an 8% drop in body weight over the 6 month period of the study.

5 Fast Facts to Know About Eating Walnuts to Lose Weight

Thinking of adding more walnuts to your diet? Here are 5 fast facts you need to know about walnuts for weight loss.

How the Study Worked

The recent study took place at the University of California’s San Diego School of Medicine. The study was led by Dr. Cheryl Rock.

In a statement, Dr. Rock stated that:

“Considering the results of this study, as well as previous walnut research on heart health and weight, there’s something to be said for eating a handful of walnuts a day.”

In the study, Dr. Rock and a team of researchers worked with 245 overweight and obese women who were taking part in a one year weight loss plan.

That group was split into three teams based on their diets, including a low fat, high-carb diet; a low-carb, high-fat diet; and a walnut-rich, high fat and low-carb diet.

The walnut group took about a handful of nuts per day (1.5 ounces or 43 grams).

At the six month mark of the study, all three groups of women had lost about 8% of their initial weight on average.

However, the group that ate walnuts saw a significant dip in LDL (bad) cholesterol compared to other groups along with an increase in HDL (good) cholesterol.

Why Walnuts?

Walnuts are thought to be such a valuable component of a healthy diet because, well, they’re really good for your body.

Walnuts are packed with antioxidants, phytosterols, and other compounds that can stave away obesity, cancer, and disease.

They’re also packed with healthy omega-3 fatty acids, which have been linked to better brain health and lower blood pressure.

The specific cholesterol benefits we mentioned above can also be linked to the polyunsaturated fats in walnuts.

How Much Walnuts Should You Eat?

In the weight loss study discussed above, participants took “about a handful” of walnuts every day.

A handful of walnuts was measured as about 1.5 ounces or 43 grams of walnuts every day.

This Isn’t the First Study on Nuts and Weight Loss

Nuts have been prized and studied for their health benefits for years. In recent years, research has increasingly shown that the link between nuts and weight loss is likely related to polyunsaturated fats.

Last year, for example, Canadian researchers led a study that concluded eating tree nuts (like walnuts, almonds, cashews, and pistachios) could help to lower triglycerides and blood sugars within the body.

These researchers showed that a small single serving per day – like 30 to 50 grams – was enough to reap the benefits.

Should You Take Walnuts to Lose Weight?

If you’re thinking of taking nuts to help you lose weight, then you certainly have significant evidence to back up your reasoning.

However, researchers in the most recent walnut study cautioned that the study only involved women – so it’s unclear if the same weight loss benefits would extend to men.

There was also “a lack of detailed information about dietary intake and adherence to the diets”, as one analyst explained, although it appears that the women were following some sort of reduced calorie diet.

Finally, it’s important to remember that the women in all three groups of the diet lost the same amount of weight on average. Walnuts were not actually linked to weight loss: they were just linked to better health metrics like healthier cholesterol.

There’s one other interesting thing about this walnut study: it was funded by the California Walnut Commission (as well as the National Institutes of Health or NIH). The California Walnut Board was established in 1948 “to represent the walnut growers and handlers of California”, according to the organization’s official site at Walnuts.org.

Ultimately, nuts have repeatedly demonstrated that they’re good for us. This latest study shows us just how healthy specific nuts – like walnuts – can be when it comes to weight loss.