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.

How food structure and processing govern metabolizable energy: A critical review of the food-matrix determinants of energy availability and the limits of the Atwater accounting. (Louie et al, 2026).
This review outlines how the food matrix impacts metabolisable energy – a factor not captured by traditional Atwater estimates of food energy. It describes how intact food structures reduce energy availability via encapsulation and limited enzyme access, whereas processing can increase energy release rate and net metabolisable energy. Tree nuts provide the strongest empirical evidence, with measured metabolisable energy ranging from about 5% below the Atwater value for pistachios to more than 30% below for whole almonds, due to matrix integrity and lipid encapsulation. The review describes four energetic consequences of matrix disruption: net metabolizable energy, rate of energy release, thermic effect of feeding and colonic salvage. It concludes that energy values based on composition alone are insufficient for foods whose structure strongly constrains digestion, and that food-composition data, labelling, feeding research and reformulation would benefit from structure-aware measures of delivered energy.

The dietary inflammatory index is lower among healthy older adults consuming a walnut-supplemented diet. Ancillary results from the Walnuts and Healthy Aging Randomized Controlled Trial. (Stern et al, 2026).
This 2-year randomised trial in 319 healthy adults, with a mean age of 66 years, found that consuming 30-60g of walnuts daily was associated with a significantly greater anti-inflammatory dietary profile than a walnut-free control diet. Participants in the walnut group consumed walnuts equivalent to around 15% of their daily energy intake, while the control group avoided walnuts and limited other nuts to fewer than two servings per week. Both groups continued their usual background diet. After two years, the walnut group had significantly lower dietary inflammatory index scores, with nutrients including omega-3 fats, magnesium and fibre contributing to the more anti-inflammatory dietary pattern. The findings suggest that adding walnuts as a single whole food to the habitual diet may be a practical way to improve the overall inflammatory potential of the diet.

Chestnut flour-enriched bread reduces postprandial glycaemic response in healthy adults: A randomised, controlled crossover study. (Houghton et al, 2026).
In this randomised crossover trial, 14 healthy adults without diabetes, consumed isocaloric meals providing 50g available carbohydrate as either chestnut flour-enriched bread (50% chestnut flour/50% wheat flour) or control bread (100% wheat flour), following an overnight fast. Glucose and insulin were assessed at baseline and then post-prandially across a 3-hour period. It found that replacing 50% wheat flour with chestnut flour reduced the postprandial glycaemic response (iAUC lowered by 27%) and the time at which postprandial insulin peaked (24 minutes earlier) in response to bread. The underlying mechanisms may involve food matrix effects, dietary fibre, resistant starch and (poly)phenol-mediated modulation of carbohydrate digestion and glucose handling, but require confirmation in dedicated mechanistic studies.

Beneficial effects of nuts on cardiovascular and metabolic health: An insight into the gut-cardiometabolic axis. (Hosseinikia et al, 2026).
This review explores how the cardiometabolic benefits of tree nuts may be partly mediated through the gut microbiome. In particular, it highlights emerging evidence that nut consumption may influence cardiometabolic health through microbiota-derived metabolites, such as short-chain fatty acids, as well as functional changes in the gut microbiota. These effects may, in turn, regulate host metabolic and immune pathways, support gut barrier integrity, and modulate inflammatory signalling. The authors suggest that the complex, multidirectional interplay between nut intake, gut microbial composition and function, and cardiometabolic health represents a promising area of research, although further studies are needed to better understand these relationships.   

Peanuts-derived plasma lipids and lower risk of type-2 diabetes: Association mediated by body mass index. An intervention and case-cohort study. (Dominguez et al, 2026).
This study examined how peanut consumption affects circulating lipids, and whether these changes impact cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk. It integrated data from the ARISTOTLE intervention trial (63 participants consuming peanuts for 6 months) and the EPIC-Potsdam cohort (774 T2D cases, 545 CVD cases). The peanut intervention modified 51 lipid fatty acid sums, predominantly very long-chain saturated fatty acids containing lipids, particularly sphingolipids. A peanut lipidomic signature (PeLS) derived from these changes showed a modest inverse association with T2D risk (HR=0.89 per 1-SD increase) but not CVD. Body mass index mediated 89% of the PeLS-T2D association, suggesting peanuts’ benefits for diabetes risk operate partly through weight management.

Trial of a maternal diet rich in eggs and peanuts to reduce infant allergy. (Palmer et al, 2026).
In this multisite, randomised trial, pregnant women whose unborn child had at least two biological family members with medically-diagnosed allergic disease were eligible to participate. Participants were assigned in a 1:1 ratio to follow either a diet high in eggs (at least 6/week) and peanuts (at least 60g/week) (high egg-peanut group) or a standard egg and peanut diet that included no more than 3 eggs and 30 peanuts per week (standard-diet group), from before 23 weeks’ gestation until 4 months postnatally during lactation. There was no significant difference in the percentage of infants with IgE-mediated egg or peanut allergy between the maternal high egg-peanut group (7.8%) and the standard-diet group (8.4%). It concluded that ingestion of high amounts of egg and peanut during pregnancy and lactation did not result in a significantly lower risk of the development of egg or peanut allergy in infants by 1 year of age, than ingestion of low amounts of these foods.

Acute study of the glycemic, insulinemic and triglyceride responses on white bread with peanuts and cashews in different forms (whole nut, nut butter and nut milk). (Salleh et al, 2026).
This randomised crossover study, involving 15 healthy participants, examined acute postprandial glycemic, insulinemic, and triglyceride responses to white bread consumed with peanuts or cashews in three forms: whole nuts, nut butter, and nut milk. Participants consumed 42.5g of nuts in each form, alongside two slices of white bread. All nut forms improved postprandial glycemic control compared with white bread alone, significantly reducing glucose peaks and overall glycemic responses, while slightly increasing insulin responses. Nut form primarily affected triglyceride responses. Nut butter and nut milk produced 52% and 44% higher triglyceride responses, respectively, than whole nuts, but did not significantly affect glucose or insulin responses. These findings suggest that choosing whole nuts over nut butter or nut milk when consuming a high-carbohydrate meal may be a useful dietary strategy for managing cardiometabolic risk.

Impact of mixed nut consumption on faecal lipid content and gut microbiota composition in healthy adults. (Bermudez et al, 2026).
This cross-over intervention trial examined changes in faecal microbiota and stool characteristics following nut consumption. The 15 participants ate 30g of mixed nuts (macadamias, almonds and pistachios) each day for three weeks and then avoided nuts for three weeks, while otherwise maintaining their usual diets. Following nut consumption, lipase-producing genera, including Megasphaera, Streptococcus and Dorea, were detected. An increase in the fatty acid β-oxidation pathway in most participants also suggested potential lipase activity associated with nut intake. Overall, the findings suggest that a portion of the whole nuts consumed likely reach the large intestine as intact cells. Upon microbial degradation of the cell wall, the released lipids appear to be at least partially converted into beneficial metabolites, such as short-chain fatty acids.

Exploring the role of pistachio nutrients and bioactive components in sleep health: A narrative review. (Mixon et al, 2026).
This review examines whether the nutrients and bioactive compounds in pistachios could improve sleep health. Pistachios are rich in vitamin B6, magnesium, fibre, phenolic compounds, and phytomelatonin, which may influence sleep regulation through pathways involving melatonin biosynthesis, gut-brain signalling, and circadian rhythm alignment. Based on these mechanisms, the authors propose pistachios as a promising whole-food approach to supporting sleep. However, while mechanistic plausibility is strong and emerging evidence is promising, they say randomised controlled trials directly assessing pistachio intake and sleep outcomes are needed to determine whether pistachio consumption improves sleep outcomes in humans.