What do nuts do to your body if you're overweight and unhealthy?
Effects of a high walnut and high cashew nut diet on selected markers of the metabolic syndrome: a controlled feeding trial
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Cashew consumption increased fasting blood glucose by 0.70 mmol/L despite no change in fructosamine.
Nuts are low-glycemic and usually improve blood sugar control, so a rise in glucose — even temporary — contradicts expectations.
Practical Takeaways
If you have metabolic syndrome, don’t rely on adding nuts alone to improve your health — focus on weight loss and overall diet quality.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Cashew consumption increased fasting blood glucose by 0.70 mmol/L despite no change in fructosamine.
Nuts are low-glycemic and usually improve blood sugar control, so a rise in glucose — even temporary — contradicts expectations.
Practical Takeaways
If you have metabolic syndrome, don’t rely on adding nuts alone to improve your health — focus on weight loss and overall diet quality.
Publication
Journal
British Journal of Nutrition
Year
2007
Authors
J. Mukuddem-Petersen, Welma Stonehouse Oosthuizen, J. Jerling, S. M. Hanekom, Zelda White
Related Content
Claims (5)
Eating cashews might raise blood sugar levels in adults with metabolic syndrome because they have a fair amount of carbs.
If you're an obese adult with metabolic syndrome, eating a handful of walnuts or cashews every day for two months won't noticeably improve your cholesterol, blood pressure, or inflammation—if you don't gain or lose weight.
Eating a lot of cashews every day for two months might raise blood sugar levels in people with metabolic syndrome, even though longer-term sugar markers don’t change — so cashews could be affecting blood sugar in the short run.
If you're overweight and have metabolic health issues, eating walnuts or cashews for 8 weeks might help your body, but if you don't lose weight, those benefits could be hidden.
If someone with metabolic syndrome already has low 'bad' cholesterol, it might be hard to see if eating nuts helps lower it even more—especially in short studies.