Nut consumption, weight gain and obesity: Epidemiological evidence

Abstract Background and aims Short-term trials support that adding tree nuts or peanuts to usual diets does not induce weight gain. We reviewed the available epidemiological evidence on long-term nut consumption and body weight changes. We also report new results from the SUN (“Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra”) cohort. Methods and results Published epidemiologic studies with ≥1-yr follow-up were located. Two published reports from large cohorts (SUN and Nurses Health Study-2) showed inverse associations between frequency of nut consumption and long-term weight changes. A beneficial effect of a Mediterranean diet supplemented with tree nuts on waist circumference was reported after 1-yr follow-up in the first 1224 high-risk participants in the PREDIMED (“PREvencion DIeta MEDiterranea”) trial. After assessing 11,895 participants of the SUN cohort, a borderline significant ( p value for trend = 0.09) inverse association between baseline nut consumption and average yearly weight gain (multivariate-adjusted means = 0.32 kg/yr (95% confidence interval: 0.22–0.42) and 0.24 (0.11–0.37) kg/yr for participants with no consumption and >4 servings/week, respectively) was found after a 6-yr follow-up. Conclusions Consumption of nuts was not associated with a higher risk of weight gain in long-term epidemiologic studies and clinical trials.