Original Article
Obesity (2007) 15, 107–116; doi:10.1038/oby.2007.507
Nut Consumption and Weight Gain in a Mediterranean Cohort: The SUN Study*
Maira Bes-Rastrollo*, Joan Sabaté†, Enrique Gómez-Gracia‡, Alvaro Alonso*,§, J. Alfredo Martínez¶ and Miguel Angel Martínez-González*
- *Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
- †Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California
- ‡Department of Preventive Medicine and History of Medicine, University of Málaga, Malaga, Spain
- §Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, Spain.
- ¶Department of Physiology and Nutrition, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
Correspondence: Maira Bes Rastrollo Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Navarra, c/Irunlarrea, 1, 31008 Pamplona, Navarra, Spain. E-mail: mbes@unav.es
*The costs of publication of this article were defrayed, in part, by the payment of page charges. This article must, therefore, be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
Received 4 May 2006; Revised 00; Accepted 14 August 2006.
Abstract
Objective:
To assess the association, in a Mediterranean population, between nut consumption and risk of weight gain (at least 5 kg) or the risk of becoming overweight/obese.
Research Methods and Procedures:
The Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra project is a prospective cohort of 8865 adult men and women who completed a follow-up questionnaire after a median of 28 months. Dietary habits were assessed with a previously validated semiquantitative food-frequency questionnaire.
Results:
Nine hundred thirty-seven participants reported a weight gain of 
5 kg at follow-up. After adjusting for age, sex, smoking, leisure time physical activity, and other known risk factors for obesity, participants who ate nuts two or more times per week had a significantly lower risk of weight gain (odds ratio: 0.69; 95% confidence interval: 0.53 to 0.90, p for trend = 0.006) than those who never or almost never ate nuts. Participants with little nut consumption (never/almost never) gained an average of 424 grams (95% confidence interval: 102 to 746) more than frequent nut eaters. Nut consumption was not significantly associated with incident overweight/obesity in the cohort.
Discussion:
Frequent nut consumption was associated with a reduced risk of weight gain (5 kg or more). These results support the recommendation of nut consumption as an important component of a cardioprotective diet and also allay fears of possible weight gain.
Keywords:
nuts, fiber, overweight, longitudinal analysis, epidemiology
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