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 healthy handful of nuts in a healthy diet.

Nut consumption in a representative survey of Australians: a secondary analysis of the 2011-2012 National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey. (2020).
Exploration of nut consumption in a representative sample of Australians identified that nut intake does not meet recommendations. Mean nut intake was 4·61g/d, with only 5.6 % of nut consumers consuming the target of 30 g of nuts per day. Higher nut consumption was not adversely associated with higher body weight, aligning with the current evidence base. Given the current levels of nut consumption in Australia, strategies to increase nut intake to recommended levels are required.

Habitual Nut Exposure, Assessed by Dietary and Multiple Urinary Metabolomic Markers, and Cognitive Decline in Older Adults: The InCHIANTI Study. (2020).
This study showed that a high intake of nuts may help protect older adults from cognitive decline. A total of 119 participants aged 65 and over were selected from the InCHIANTI cohort. Participants were selected based on their nut intake: non-nut consumers and regular consumers (approx. 28g/week). Researchers found that nut consumption estimated either by dietary marker or urinary marker model was associated with lower cognitive decline.

Replacing Saturated Fats with Unsaturated Fats from Walnuts or Vegetable Oils Lowers Atherogenic Lipoprotein Classes Without Increasing Lipoprotein(a). (2020).
A randomized, crossover, controlled-feeding study was conducted in 34 individuals at risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Participants were assigned each of the following diets for six weeks: 1) walnuts diet (57-99g/day); 2) walnut fatty-acid matched diet devoid of walnuts, and; 3) a diet replacing ALA with oleic acid without walnuts. The study concluded that the replacement of saturated fatty acids with unsaturated fats from walnuts improved lipid/lipoprotein classes, including LDL-cholesterol, non-HDL cholesterol, and total cholesterol.

Tree nut snack consumption is associated with better diet quality and CVD risk in the UK adult population: National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) 2008–2014. (2020).
Researchers examined the association of tree nut snack consumption with diet quality and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in UK adults from the National diet and nutrition survey. Tree nut snack consumers report better dietary quality and consumption was associated with lower CVD risk factors. Encouraging replacement of less healthy snacks with tree nuts should be encouraged as part of general dietary guidelines.