How nuts help you lose weight – and which one is the healthiest

Nuts don’t have the best reputation for their high fat content. This is all wrong. Because: with their valuable nutrients, nuts not only promote health, they can even help you lose weight.

But first of all:

The Swiss Nutrition Association recommends a daily serving of between 20 and 30 grams of nuts, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends even 40 grams. As a rough rule of thumb, you can remember a handful of nuts per day or 2 tablespoons of nut butter.

30 grams of nuts per day – consisting of 15 grams of walnuts, 7.5 grams of hazelnuts and 7.5 grams of almonds – was also given to the 7500 subjects of the PREDIMED study, one of the most comprehensive nutritional studies. The inclusion criterion for the study was an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. After a five-year term, your risk has dropped by 30 percent.

Another study involving nearly 400,000 participants investigated whether nuts can reduce weight. After five years it turned out that regular consumption can help with weight loss. This was justified by the many valuable nutrients and the high degree of satiety.

But how much is too much?

Most studies follow the recommendation of 30 grams per day. So far, no major research has been done on how consuming too many nuts affects the body. The Eat Lancet Commission – made up of scientists from 16 different countries – advises not to consume more than 50 grams of nuts per day.

The average consumption per capita in 2021 was 25 grams per day. This means that Switzerland is below the recommended amount. Hazelnuts and walnuts are the most popular. This probably has to do with the fact that hazelnuts and different kinds of walnuts are native to this country.

Almonds are also popular in Switzerland. On average, consumption per capita is around 6 grams per day. Botanically, almonds aren’t actually nuts at all; they are drupes, just like coconuts and pistachios. Peanuts – which even have nut in their name – also only colloquially belong to the nut family. However, botanically they are more closely related to beans, peas and the like and are therefore classified as legumes.

One of the healthiest nuts is… *drumroll*…

… the walnut!

Also called tree nut in this country.

No other nut has a higher proportion of omega-3 fatty acids that the body does not produce itself and therefore must be taken with food. In addition, the nut provides you with a good amount of potassium, magnesium, iron and zinc.

According to the Heidelberg Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, the ecological footprint of walnuts in green is: 0.9 CO₂ equivalents/kg. For comparison: the value for almonds is 2.2 kg CO₂ equivalents/kg. But: both kinds of nuts flop with a high water footprint. Almonds require 390,000 liters of water equivalent/kg. Walnuts need even more water: 470,000 water equivalents/kg.

Despite the many advantages of the walnut – native, valuable nutrients, good climate balance – you should not ignore other types of nuts. However, at least from a health point of view, natural nuts are preferable. Because: For example, when roasting, many valuable nutrients are lost.

(cst)