Do walnuts make you gain weight?
Does regular walnut consumption lead to weight gain?
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Only 0.4kg weight gain despite 133 extra kcal/day for 6 months
Simple math predicts ~3.1kg gain from 133 extra kcal/day over 6 months. Gaining just 0.4kg means the body compensated for over 85% of the excess calories.
Practical Takeaways
Add a 35g handful of walnuts to your daily diet without worrying about weight gain.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Only 0.4kg weight gain despite 133 extra kcal/day for 6 months
Simple math predicts ~3.1kg gain from 133 extra kcal/day over 6 months. Gaining just 0.4kg means the body compensated for over 85% of the excess calories.
Practical Takeaways
Add a 35g handful of walnuts to your daily diet without worrying about weight gain.
Publication
Journal
British Journal of Nutrition
Year
2005
Authors
J. Sabaté, Z. Cordero-MacIntyre, Gina Siapco, S. Torabian, E. Haddad
Related Content
Claims (6)
Eating walnuts instead of other fats won't make you gain weight, even though they're high in calories.
If adults eat 35 grams of walnuts every day while living their normal lives, they end up eating about 133 extra calories per day — but they don’t gain as much weight as you’d expect because they naturally eat a bit less of other foods.
People lost more weight when they stopped eating walnuts than they gained when they started eating them — and this weird difference might be because their bodies or habits changed in response to the nuts.
If you eat about a handful of walnuts every day for six months, you might gain only half a pound — way less than you'd expect from the extra calories, which probably means you end up eating less of other foods without realizing it.
Eating a small handful of walnuts every day for six months might slightly increase your BMI, but doesn’t seem to change other aspects of your body like muscle or fat in a noticeable way.