Walnuts may be the key to losing weight, researchers say. They found that eating a diet rich in walnuts can be extremely effective in losing weight .
Moreover, walnuts are rich in polyunsaturated fats , which makes them good for heart health and reduces the levels of "bad" cholesterol in the blood. The recommendation of the researchers is to consume a handful of walnuts every day.
The study was conducted by experts from the School of Medicine at the University of California, USA. According to its author, Dr. Cheryl Rock, the surprising result is that despite its high fat and calorie content , a nut-rich diet is associated with the same amount of weight loss as a low-fat diet.
For the study, the research team recruited 245 women who were overweight or obese . The age of the participants is between 22 and 72 years, and the period of their follow-up is one year.
They are randomly divided into three different groups, each with a different diet: a diet high in carbohydrates and low in fat, a diet low in carbohydrates and high in fat or high in nuts, with a higher fat content and lower carbohydrates. The participants from the third group consume about a handful and a half of walnuts a day.
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Six months later, it was found that all participants lost an average of nearly 8% of their initial weight. Among those who consume a diet rich in nuts, in addition to weight loss, there is an improvement in the balance of cholesterol in the blood - reduce the levels of "bad" and increase those of "good".
Walnuts are the only nuts that contain mainly polyunsaturated fats, including significant amounts of alpha-linolenic acid. It belongs to the group of omega-3 fatty acids , which are essential for the health of the body.