I’d say its nuts to ignore the health benefits that incorporating a variety of seeds and nuts can have in the diet! They certainly are better than my puns.
A study that was published in 2022 as an umbrella review did the work in answering the question of “what benefit do nuts and seeds have for health”? The authors reviewed 89 peer reviewed, published papers where consumption of nuts and seeds were measured for their effect on common diseases and health status.
The diseases that were assessed in comparison to intake of nuts and seeds included cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, being at a higher weight, respiratory disease and overall mortality.
Evidence was collated that shows there is definitely a benefit to eating nuts and seeds as part of our diet. Risk of developing cardiovascular disease decreases by 21% amongst people who incorporate nuts and seeds into their diet compared to those who don’t. There was an 11% decrease in cancer related deaths and 22% reduction in all cause mortality.
How much do I need to eat then to get these benefits?
According to the research, 28 grams per day are enough to reap these benefits. The Australian Dietary Guidelines (2013) list one serve of nuts and seeds in the ‘lean meat and poultry, fish, eggs, nuts and seeds, and legumes/beans” group as 30 grams. The thirty grams can be made up of nuts, seeds, peanut or almond butter or tahini or other nut or seed paste (no added salt varieties).
It’s worth noting that the Australian Dietary Guidelines give this warning: nuts and seeds are only to be used occasionally as a substitute for other foods in the group as this amount for nuts and seeds gives approximately the same amount of energy as the other foods in this group but will provide less protein, iron or zinc. Other foods in this group are the lean meats, poultry and legumes. Anyone trying to monitor the amount of total fat in their diet or types of protein are encouraged to seek advice from a dietitian to get the balance right.
If you suffer from nut allergies then please do not consume them – the risks very much outweigh any benefit for you!
References
- National Health and Medical Research Council (2013) Australian Dietary Guidelines. Canberra: NHMRC.
- Rajiv Balakrishna, Tonje Bjørnerud, Mitra Bemanian, Dagfinn Aune, Lars T Fadnes, Consumption of Nuts and Seeds and Health Outcomes Including Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes and Metabolic Disease, Cancer, and Mortality: An Umbrella Review, Advances in Nutrition, Volume 13, Issue 6, November 2022, Pages 2136–2148, https://doi.org/10.1093/advances/nmac077