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Nut consumption and weight gain in a Mediterranean cohort: The SUN study
Maira Bes-Rastrollo1, Joan Sabaté, Enrique Gómez-Gracia
1Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Navarra, c/Irunlarrea, 1, 31008 Pamplona, Navarra, Spain. mbes@unav.es
Objective:
To assess the association, in a Mediterranean population, between nut consumption and risk of weight gain (at least 5 kg) or the risk of becoming overweight/obese.
Research Methods And Procedures:
The Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra project is a prospective cohort of 8865 adult men and women who completed a follow-up questionnaire after a median of 28 months. Dietary habits were assessed with a previously validated semiquantitative food-frequency questionnaire.
Results:
Nine hundred thirty-seven participants reported a weight gain of > or =5 kg at follow-up. After adjusting for age, sex, smoking, leisure time physical activity, and other known risk factors for obesity, participants who ate nuts two or more times per week had a significantly lower risk of weight gain (odds ratio: 0.69; 95% confidence interval: 0.53 to 0.90, p for trend = 0.006) than those who never or almost never ate nuts. Participants with little nut consumption (never/almost never) gained an average of 424 grams (95% confidence interval: 102 to 746) more than frequent nut eaters. Nut consumption was not significantly associated with incident overweight/obesity in the cohort.
Discussion:
Frequent nut consumption was associated with a reduced risk of weight gain (5 kg or more). These results support the recommendation of nut consumption as an important component of a cardioprotective diet and also allay fears of possible weight gain.
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