Walk through the aisles of your departmental store and you will come across a wide variety of nuts. Starting from almonds and pistachios to walnuts and cashew nuts, those wracks have it all. Nuts are a powerhouse of nutrients that include healthy fats and fibre. Having a handful of them every day benefit your health in more ways than one. Boosting your cardiac and cognitive functions is the most prominent among them. Those teeny-tiny nuts also help you in weight loss.
But, not all of them can give you body of your dreams. So, choose your nuts wisely if you want belly-busting benefits. Walnut is a very good option for those on a weight loss mission. Include it in your meals when you are battling the bulge.
WHY WALNUTS?
A growing body of research backs the weight-loss benefits of walnuts along with its other health-boosting properties. According to a study conducted at the Harvard and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, these nuts can help make you slim. They are rich in vitamins, healthy fats, and fibres, antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, etc. All these offer you a plethora of health benefits: Decreasing inflammation, reducing risks of breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers, lowering diabetes and high blood pressure risk.
Several studies have found that a handful of walnuts every day can lower your risk of obesity and heart disease. Apart from omega-3 fatty acids, proteins, vitamins and antioxidants, these nuts come with minerals like magnesium and copper. The minerals can play an instrumental role in weight loss. If you munch on 12-14 halves of walnuts, you will gain about 190 calories. However, all calories aren't that bad for your health and weight. but not all calories are bad for your health. In fact, a research published in the journal Nutrients showed that healthy adults who regularly had around 300 calories from walnuts didn't have a negative impact on their weight.
You must be wondering how a nut loaded with so much fat helps in weight loss. Here, we shed light on the ways walnuts do so help you shed those extra kilos.
Promotes healthy bacteria that help in weight loss
Walnuts provide dietary fibre that acts as a food source for the gut microbiota. The fibre helps these bacteria to do their job of breaking down complex foods, providing nutrients, and increasing satiety. There are certain gut-friendly bacteria that produce chemicals to make you feel full. They also improve the efficiency of digestion. All these contribute to weight loss, says a study published in the journal Nutrition in Clinical Practice.
The higher the number of these gut-friendly bacteria, the higher are your chances of losing weight. Nature magazine recently revealed that the composition of gut bacteria in the obese population is different from their non-obese peers. It has been found that two bacteria, namely Prevotella and Bacteroidetes, help in weight loss. Walnuts ensure gut conditions congenial for them to thrive.
Revs up your metabolism
Eating walnuts can improve your metabolism by increasing high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and decreasing fasting glucose levels, says a study published in the journal Nutrition Research and Practice. With an improved metabolism, your body will be able to burn more calories and prevent fat deposition effectively. Eating walnuts can potentially boost the number of calories burned, says another study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition. This will enhance your weight loss process. Also, having a handful of walnuts everyday can reduce the impact of junk foods on your health. Additionally, an known as ellagic acid reduces gut inflammation, keeping it healthy. This boosts your metabolism rate, cutting down calories.
To improve your metabolism, you can also load up on protein- rich foods like fish, eggs, milk, etc. Practising high-sensitivity workouts and having green tea can also help.
Balances blood sugar levels
Walnuts are rich in proteins, good fats and magnesium. This mineral helps in weight loss and blood sugar control. High blood sugar levels are associated with weight gain while low levels reduce fat deposit in the body.
Controls your eating pattern
Apart from controlling your blood glucose levels, the magnesium present in walnuts promotes calmness. It balances your mood, bringing down stress. Stress is known to drive binge eating, a major culprit behind obesity. Also, this mineral promotes sleep, which helps in appetite control.
Having a handful of walnuts every day can suppress your appetite and make you feel full, says a study published in the journal Nutrition. The polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) present in walnuts helps in the process of hunger suppression. Also, they have the power to increase the levels of your satiety hormone called leptin. This hormone sends fullness signals to the hypothalamus region of your brain. This signal tells your body that it has have enough storage of fats to sustain for now. Therefore, you should stop eating now.
The PUFAs are also play a significant role in bringing down the levels of your hunger hormone ghrelin. All these factors combine together to help you in weight loss.
Boosts fat burning
Several studies state that having walnuts can increase your fat burning capacity. This helps in weight loss. If you want to shed the excess belly fat, add walnuts are your go-to nuts. Their omega-3 fatty acids that give you the fat burning benefits. They also reduce the amount of fat tthat your body stores. Some other foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids include fatty fish like tuna, salmon, flaxseeds, so on and so forth.
