Nuts could stop you putting on weight as you get older

It’s a fact of life that your body changes as you get older, and most commonly, people end up putting on weight. But recent research from Harvard University has found that replacing unhealthy foods with nuts really could slow down the pile-on of pounds.

The major study monitored both the eating habits and the weight gain of more than 300,000 people over the course of two decades, and found that those who ate half a portion (14g) of nuts every day gained less weight and were less likely to become obese.

So even if you put down half a packet of crisps, exchanging it for a small handful of nuts, you could make a difference to your weight gain in future.

Helping us to decode the research is registered dietitian, Juliette Kellow BSc RD. Explaining the logic behind the findings, Juliette tells Cosmopolitan: “One of the reasons nuts may help people better manage their weight is thanks to them helping us to stay fuller for longer.

“Most nuts are high in in fibre, with almonds containing the most – a 28g serving contain 3.5g fibre, more than a tenth of our daily needs,” the dietitian notes. “Plus, nuts usually provide protein which, according to the British Nutrition Foundation, may aid satiety – that feeling of fullness we get after eating.”

The expert also suggests that nuts help us to feel full thanks to their crunchiness. “Foods with a hard, crunchy texture like nuts need more chewing and so they stay in our mouth for longer than soft food. This stimulates senses that trigger signals involved in satiety. The action of chewing itself is also thought to increase the release of substances that are associated with satiety,” explains Juliette.

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