The body of evidence about nuts and health continues to grow. These local and international research papers, recently published, corroborate decades of research about the importance of a regular handful of nuts in a healthy diet.

Change to a healthy diet in people over 70 years old: The PREDIMED experience. (2021).
The PREDIMED randomized trial has previously shown that a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or mixed nuts can improve cardiovascular risk factors (CRF). This latest PREDIMED sub-study looked at whether the benefits were similar in younger and older adults (mean ages at baseline of 59.6 years and 74.2 years, respectively). The youngest and oldest participants showed improved dietary habits and CRF to a similar extent after 3 years intervention. Systolic blood pressure, LDL-cholesterol and body weight were similarly reduced after 3 years in both groups. The researchers concluded that it’s never too late to improve dietary habits and reduce CRF in high-risk adults.

Effects of whole peanut within an energy-restricted diet on inflammatory and oxidative processes in obese women: A randomized controlled trial. (2021).
In this trial, 24 women with obesity were assigned to 3 groups: 56g of whole peanuts (WP), 56g skinned peanuts (SP), and no peanuts (NP), along with energy-restricted diets (250 kcal/day less than their usual diet) for 8 weeks. WP lost an average of 3.2 kg, while SP group lost 2.6 kg and the NP group 1.8 kg. However, only the groups that consumed peanuts showed a significant reduction in BMI. There was a also a significant reduction in total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol after four weeks of intervention, which was maintained at 8 weeks for the peanut groups. In addition, there was an improvement in platelets and plasma homocysteine in the WP group.

Pecan-enriched diets increase energy expenditure and fat oxidation in adults at-risk for cardiovascular disease in a randomised, controlled trial. (2021).
This randomised controlled trial looked into the impact of daily pecan consumption for 8 weeks on energy metabolism in 47 adults with high cholesterol or at higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Study participants were randomised into one of three treatments: a nut-free control group, and two pecan groups (an ‘ADD’ group that added pecans in their diet, and a ‘SUB’ group which substituted the pecans for isocaloric foods from their habitual diet). It found daily consumption of pecans may increase certain measures of energy expenditure (including resting metabolic rate, and post-prandial diet-induced thermogenesis) and fat oxidation.

Effect of pecan nuts and extra-virgin olive oil on glycemic profile and nontraditional anthropometric indexes in patients with coronary artery disease: A randomized clinical trial. (2021).
In this 12-week randomized, parallel clinical trial, 204 people with stable coronary artery disease were allocated to three interventions: a healthy diet (control group), a healthy diet plus 30g/day of pecan nuts, or a healthy diet plus 30mL/day of extra-virgin olive oil. There were no differences between the groups, in both glycemic and anthropometric profiles, at the end of the study. However, the pecan group had improved dietary quality, compared to the other groups. The researchers suggest adding pecans to a healthy diet may improve its quality.

The effect of almond intake on glycemic control: A systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. (2021).
This review examined the effect of almond intake on glycemic control parameters. In total, 24 studies were included in the analysis. The meta-analysis revealed that almond intake did not significantly change the concentrations of fasting blood sugar (FBS), insulin, HOMA-IR, and HbA1C. The researches concluded that there is currently no convincing evidence that almonds have a clear beneficial effect on glycemic control – with further studies needed in this area.