A small handful of nuts contains up to 200 calories, but people who eat them experience less weight gain over time, suggests a study in the European Journal of Nutrition.
The study included more than 370,000 people age 25 to 70 from 10 countries in Europe. Past research found an association between nut consumption and lower risk of heart attack, stroke, and diabetes—presumably because of nuts’ healthy fats, fiber, and other nutrients.
Over 5 years, researchers tallied the amounts of all nuts people said they consumed. They also assessed the amount of weight the participants lost or gained.
Compared with people who didn’t eat nuts, those consuming more than 1 serving (1 ounce) per week had a 10% lower increase in body weight over 5 years. The researchers corrected for factors like dietary and exercise habits that might have accounted for the reduced weight gain in the nut eaters.
This study is observational, so it doesn’t prove eating nuts reduces weight gain. But it does suggest that eating nuts regularly may not make it harder to stay trim—as long as you reduce consumption of less healthy foods in exchange for your nut calories.