Lowering Your Stress and Your Weight With Walnuts and Almonds
hubie writes:
Walnuts the new brain food for stressed university students
A new clinical trial of undergraduate students during their university studies has shown positive effects of walnut consumption on self-reported measures of mental health and biomarkers of general health.
The University of South Australia study, published in the journal Nutrients, also suggests that walnuts may counteract the effects of academic stress on the gut microbiota during periods of stress, especially in females.
Lead researchers, PhD student Mauritz Herselman and Associate Professor Larisa Bobrovskaya, say the results add to the growing body of evidence linking walnuts with improved brain and gut health.
[...] "We found that those who consumed about half a cup of walnuts every day showed improvements in self-reported mental health indicators. Walnut consumers also showed improved metabolic biomarkers and overall sleep quality in the longer term."
[...] "We have shown that consuming walnuts during stressful periods can improve mental health and general wellbeing in university students, as well as being a healthy and delicious snack and a versatile ingredient in many recipes, to fight some negative effects of academic stress," Assoc Prof Bobrovskaya says.
Journal Reference:
Mauritz F. Herselman et al., Nutrients 2022, 14(22), 4776; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14224776
Believe it or 'nut', almonds can help you cut calories
Weight loss is never an easy nut to crack, but a handful of almonds could keep extra kilos at bay:
Examining how almonds can affect appetite, researchers found that a snack of 30-50 grams of almonds could help people cut back on the number of kilojoules they consume each day.
Published in the European Journal of Nutrition, the study found that people who consumed almonds - as opposed to an energy-equivalent carbohydrate snack - lowered their energy intake by 300 kilojoules (most of which came from junk food) at the subsequent meal.
[...] "Our research examined the hormones that regulate appetite, and how nuts - specifically almonds - might contribute to appetite control."
"We found that people who ate almonds experienced changes in their appetite-regulating hormones, and that these may have contributed to reduced food intake (by 300kJ)."
[...] "Almonds are a fantastic healthy snack to incorporate into the daily diet. We are now excited to look at how almonds might affect appetite during a weight loss diet and how they might assist with weight management in the long term."
Journal Reference:
Carter, S., Hill, A.M., Buckley, J.D. et al. Acute feeding with almonds compared to a carbohydrate-based snack improves appetite-regulating hormones with no effect on self-reported appetite sensations: a randomised controlled trial. Eur J Nutr (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-022-03027-2
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