Walnuts May Not Lead To Weight Gain In Elderly: Study

Walnuts are said to have a number of health benefits, including giving the body an energy boost. However, in the recent times, they have got a bad reputation making some people believe that eating them daily may cause weight gain. Now some researchers from Loma Linda University Health in California have conducted a study, which has concluded that consumption of walnuts does not have any negative impact on weight management for the elderly. The findings of the research were published in the journal Nutrients and they provided helpful insights into how consumption of nuts can affect the health of healthy cohort of independently elderly people. The study is aimed at dispelling the belief that the fats in nuts may lead to gain in weight or can cause difficulty in managing conditions like obesity or other related health complications like heart diseases.

The study, dated September 18, 2018, has been titled "Effects of Long-Term Walnut Supplementation on Body Weight in Free-Living Elderly: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial". It is a sub-study of a larger study that set to examine whether walnuts can be made a part of diet that may ensure healthy ageing, and this goes by the title, Walnuts and Healthy Aging Study (WAHA). The study has been supported by California Walnut Commission and is a two-year trial which looked at the effects of walnuts on cognitive decline and macular degeneration in senior citizens. The authors of the study claimed that this was the first study conducted among elderly subjects, as opposed to earlier studies which saw the impact of walnut consumption of the health of younger subjects.

The results and conclusions of this study have been corroborated by another research by NCBI, which was published online and which said that the daily consumption of walnuts, lead to "weight gain much lower than expected and which became non-significant after controlling for differences in energy intake." The research was based on a six-month study, which tested the impact of daily walnut consumption on the body weight and body composition of 90 participants. However, this study may just be indicative and the results of the research should, in no way be used to replace or disregard medical advice by personal physicians or dietitians.