A recent study may change some people’s mind about nuts. Researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston conducted a study on obesity and metabolism. Published on Aug. 17 in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, ten patients diagnosed with obesity were randomly assigned either a textured smoothie without walnuts or a smoothie with 48 grams of walnuts. A month after returning to their usual diets, the patients exchanged programs for five days.

Walnuts suppress appetite even when exposed to the most craved food items.

With the use of an MRI machine, the brain activities of the subjects were measured at the start and end of a five-day smoothie diet.

Pictures of food items with high and low calories were shown to subjects while undergoing the MRI procedure. The subjects had to complete their visual analog scales before and after every scan to measure their levels of hunger and fullness.

Following the procedure, two findings were discovered. After the smoothie diet with nuts, the subjects felt less hungry compared to those that had the plain smoothie diet. Also, after five days of having walnut smoothies, the subjects showed differences in their brain activity when images of food items were shown.

According to researchers, this indicated a more active right insula area of the brain. The findings suggested that the large nuts may be telling the brain to slow down in response to exposure to mouth-watering food items.

The results also revealed that the capacity of nuts to control one’s appetite is strong. They are even claiming that it can eventually help with Weight Management, Delish reported.

While walnuts offer many health benefits, it has its downsides too.

The consumption of walnuts may increase the cognitive control processing of food cues, which result in beneficial metabolic effects.

These large, wrinkled seeds have also been linked to several health benefits such as a minimized risk of heart disease, likely cancer prevention, and improved brain function. While it is generally healthy, some people, however, may be allergic to it and could also lead to reduced mineral absorption in some individuals.

It should be noted that the results of the recent study were conducted over a limited period of time and there is no assurance that the effects shown by the subjects will not wear off. As such, more complex and structured studies are recommended to produce a more solid presentation of the health benefits of walnuts with respect to its appetite suppression properties, ER reported.
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