Nuts are full of fat, but it appears that eating nuts does not increase risk for obesity or diabetes. Almost 1000 people who did not have diabetes or metabolic syndrome were followed for six years. Those who ate nuts at least twice a week were 32 percent less likely to develop metabolic syndrome than those who rarely consumed nuts (Public Health Nutr, 2013 Nov;16(11):2064-2072).
Metabolic syndrome means you are headed for diabetes:
• First you start to store extra fat in your liver. This prevents your liver from responding to insulin.
• Then your fasting blood insulin levels rise.
• Next your fasting blood sugar rises.
• Then high blood sugar causes sugar to stick to the outer surface of cell membranes.
• This means that you now have diabetes which damages every cell in your body and increases risk for premature death.
Nuts Not Associated with Weight Gain
A six-year follow up of 11,895 Spanish participants showed that those who ate four servings per week of nuts regularly gain less weight than those who eat no nuts (Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis, 2011 Jun;21(Suppl 1):S40-5). The authors of this study reviewed the scientific literature and found that eating nuts does not cause people to gain weight.
A study from Harvard showed that after eight years of follow-up of 51,188 healthy women, ages 20-45, those who ate nuts two or more times a week gained less weight than those who rarely ate nuts. The results were the same whether a woman was of normal weight, overweight or obese (Am J Clin Nutr, 2009 Jun;89(6):1913-9).
Dr. Gabe Mirkin is a Villager. Read more about his beliefs on good health at www.drmirkin.com
