Many things can help a person lose weight. The most obvious ones are to eat right and exercise. But what if there was another way to lose weight and feel better? Going on the keto diet, which is a high fat, low carb diet, is helping many people reach their weight loss goals. And one of the foods that dieters eat while on keto is nuts. It's hard to believe that nuts can help a person lose weight, but it's true. Read all about the keto diet in the Body Reboot book and keep reading to find out how nuts can play a part in your weight loss goals.

Nuts are high in fat 

Healthline tells us that nuts are high in fat, and guess what? While on a low carb, high-fat diet, that's precisely what you need! But nuts are high in calories, so don't go overboard. If you eat them in moderation, they can aid in weight loss. Plus, they're pretty tasty! 

Nuts are high in calories.

This is because a large part of them is fat, which is a concentrated source of energy. One gram of fat contains 9 calories, while one gram of carbs or protein contains just 4 calories.

Nuts contain mostly unsaturated fat. This type of fat is associated with protection against many different diseases, such as heart disease.

The calorie and fat contents per one-ounce (28-gram) serving of some commonly eaten nuts are shown below:

Walnuts: 183 calories and 18 grams of fat (4)

Brazil nuts: 184 calories and 19 grams of fat (5)

Almonds: 161 calories and 14 grams of fat (6)

Pistachios: 156 calories and 12 grams of fat (7)

Cashews: 155 calories and 12 grams fat (8)

Because they are high in fat and calories, many people assume that adding nuts to their diet will lead to weight gain.

However, as discussed below, scientific studies do not support this.

Nuts improve your diet 

The J Am Coll Nutr. from 2004 found that nuts can significantly improve your diet. When men, women, and children ate peanuts over two days, they found that their cholesterol lowered. With low cholesterol, it's much easier to lose weight, not to mention reduces your risk for heart disease! 

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate the diet quality of free-living men, women, and children choosing peanuts and peanut products.

DESIGN:

Using data reported in the Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals and Diet and Health Knowledge Survey (CSFII/DHKS) from 1994-1996, food codes were used to sort respondents by use or nonuse of peanuts.

SUBJECTS:

A nationally representative sample of 4,751 men, 4,572 women, and 4,939 children (boys and girls, 2-19 yrs) who completed 2-day intake records.

MEASURES OF OUTCOME:

The two-sample t test was used to analyze differences between peanut users and nonusers for energy, nutrient intakes, Health Eating Index (HEI) scores, and body mass index (BMI).

RESULTS:

Peanut users (24% of CSFII/DHKS) had higher intakes (p < 0.001) of protein, total fat, polyunsaturated fat (PUFA), monounsaturated fat, (MUFA) (p < 0.01), fiber, vitamin A, vitamin E, folate, calcium, magnesium, zinc, and iron. Percent of energy from saturated fat was not significantly different for men, women or girls and was slightly lower (p < 0.01) for boys. Dietary cholesterol of peanut users was lower for all population groups; this decrease was significant for both men (p < 0.01) and children (p < 0.001). The HEI was calculated as a measure of overall nutrient profile of the diets and was significantly greater for peanut users (men 61.4, women, 65.1, children 66.8) compared to nonusers (men 59.9, women 64.1, children 64.7) for men (p = 0.0074) and children (p < 0.001). Energy intake was significantly higher in all population groups of peanut users (p < 0.001; boys: p < 0.01); however mean BMI for peanut users was lower for all gender/age categories (women: p < 0.05; children: p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS:

These results demonstrate improved diet quality of peanut users, indicated by the higher intake of the micronutrients vitamin A, vitamin E, folate, calcium, magnesium, zinc, and iron and dietary fiber, and by the lower intake of saturated fat and cholesterol. Despite a higher energy intake over a two-day period, peanut consumption was not associated with a higher BMI.

Eating nuts may boost weight loss

The New England Journal of Medicine from 2011 discusses how nuts can become a part of a health regime. Combine nuts with a workout and healthy diet, and you may have more significant weight loss results. 

BACKGROUND:

Specific dietary and other lifestyle behaviors may affect the success of the straightforward-sounding strategy “eat less and exercise more” for preventing long-term weight gain.

METHODS:

We performed prospective investigations involving three separate cohorts that included 120,877 U.S. women and men who were free of chronic diseases and not obese at baseline, with follow-up periods from 1986 to 2006, 1991 to 2003, and 1986 to 2006. The relationships between changes in lifestyle factors and weight change were evaluated at 4-year intervals, with multivariable adjustments made for age, baseline body-mass index for each period, and all lifestyle factors simultaneously. Cohort-specific and sex-specific results were similar and were pooled with the use of an inverse-variance-weighted meta-analysis.

RESULTS:

Within each 4-year period, participants gained an average of 3.35 lb (5th to 95th percentile, -4.1 to 12.4). On the basis of increased daily servings of individual dietary components, 4-year weight change was most strongly associated with the intake of potato chips (1.69 lb), potatoes (1.28 lb), sugar-sweetened beverages (1.00 lb), unprocessed red meats (0.95 lb), and processed meats (0.93 lb) and was inversely associated with the intake of vegetables (-0.22 lb), whole grains (-0.37 lb), fruits (-0.49 lb), nuts (-0.57 lb), and yogurt (-0.82 lb) (P≤0.005 for each comparison). Aggregate dietary changes were associated with substantial differences in weight change (3.93 lb across quintiles of dietary change). Other lifestyle factors were also independently associated with weight change (P<0.001), including physical activity (-1.76 lb across quintiles); alcohol use (0.41 lb per drink per day), smoking (new quitters, 5.17 lb; former smokers, 0.14 lb), sleep (more weight gain with <6 or >8 hours of sleep), and television watching (0.31 lb per hour per day).

CONCLUSIONS:

Specific dietary and lifestyle factors are independently associated with long-term weight gain, with a substantial aggregate effect and implications for strategies to prevent obesity. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health and others.).

Nuts may boost fat burning

Healthline tells us that nuts can increase fat burning, and that's good news for you if you're on the keto diet! The more your body burns fat while on keto, the more likely you are to lose weight. 

Some evidence suggests that nut consumption may boost the number of calories burned at rest.

One study found that participants burned 28% more calories after a meal containing walnuts than a meal containing fat from dairy sources.

Another study found supplementing with peanut oil for eight weeks resulted in a 5% increase in calorie burning. However, this was only seen in overweight people.

In addition, some studies show that among overweight and obese people, eating nuts can increase fat burning.

However, results are mixed, and better-quality studies are needed to confirm the link between nuts and increased calorie burning.

Br Journal of Nutrition also found that eating nuts can improve your cardiovascular health. Besides, they can potentially help you lose weight.

Small changes of diet may reduce CVD risk. One example is the inclusion of nuts. They are rich in fibre, unsaturated fatty acids and phytonutrients. However, their fat content and energy density raise concerns that chronic consumption will promote weight gain. Randomised intervention studies are required to evaluate whether this concern is well founded. This study's aim was to determine if the inclusion of a 1440 kJ serving of almonds in the daily diet results in positive energy balance, and body composition change. During a 23-week cross-over design study, participants were required to consume almonds for 10 weeks and were provided no advice on how to include them in their diet. For another 10 weeks (order counter-balanced), participants followed their customary diet and there was a 3-week washout between. The study group consisted of twenty women. Potential mechanisms of energy dissipation were measured. Ten weeks of daily almond consumption did not cause a change in body weight. This was predominantly due to compensation for the energy contained in the almonds through reduced food intake from other sources. Moreover, inefficiency in the absorption of energy from almonds was documented (P < 0.05). No changes in resting metabolic rate, thermic effect of food or total energy expenditure were noted. A daily 1440 kJ serving of almonds, sufficient to provide beneficial effects on cardiovascular risk factors, may be included in the diet with limited risk of weight gain. Whether this can be generalised to other high-fat energy dense foods warrants evaluation.

To learn more about what other foods to eat while on keto, we reveal more in the Body Reboot book. If you cover shipping, you can get a free copy of our book. Head to this page to get your free copy today!

Sources: Healthline, NCBI: J Am Coll Nutr. 2004 Dec;23(6):660-8, NCBI: N Engl J Med. 2011 Jun, NCBI: Br J. Nutrition