Findings in a recent study published online in the journal, Nutrients1, showed that replacing more typical high-carbohydrate between-meal snacks with a mixture of tree nuts reduced food cravings, especially for sweeter foods that are more likely to be nutrient poor and energy-dense, and decreased consumption of fast food items. By reducing cravings and the frequency of consuming high-simple carbohydrate foods substituting tree nuts for high-carbohydrate snacks improves diet quality and may reduce the potential adverse effects of frequent snacking on the metabolic health of young adults.

Daily energy intake from snacking has increased over the last few decades while the prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome have risen to epidemic proportions. Food cravings may contribute to the types of snacks consumed, the frequency of foods and certain food groups consumed, and the overall nutritional quality of the diet.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center conducted a randomized, parallel arm, dietary intervention study with 84 men and women, ages 22-36, most of whom had overweight or obesity (BMI 24.5 to 34.9 kg/m2) and at least one metabolic syndrome risk factor at baseline (abdominal obesity, elevated triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, or elevated levels of blood glucose). Participants consumed about an ounce (33.5g) of mixed unsalted tree nuts (almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pistachios and walnuts) or one ounce of a carbohydrate-rich snack twice daily. Both snacks provided the same number of calories, protein, fiber, and sodium and were part of a 7-day weight maintenance menu that repeated throughout the study duration of 16 weeks.

According to principal investigator, Heidi J. Silver, R.D., M.S., Ph.D., Research Professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, "Compared to those who consumed the high carbohydrate snacks, the tree nut consumers had significant decreases in cravings for high sweet items and fast food items, which were associated with decreased frequency of desserts and salty foods, along with an increased intake of higher protein foods." 

After 16 weeks, the tree nut group reported significantly reduced cravings for pizza, cookies, brownies, donuts, candy, ice cream and chips. In addition to the reduced food cravings, tree nut consumers had a significant reduction in the frequency of consuming frozen desserts and salty snacks along with increased frequency in daily servings of high protein foods.

The decreased cravings for sweets were associated with increased GLP-1 blood levels. GLP-1 is a hormone that the body produces to regulate blood glucose and appetite. The tree nuts group reported a significant decrease in the total amount of food consumed daily, but there was no change in the amount of calories consumed and no change in body weight. The high-carbohydrate group, on the other hand, showed a trend toward increased hunger and reduced fullness ratings and the group had significantly increased energy intake (349.02 ± 833.82 kcals/day, p = 0.008) with average body weight increasing by 0.78 ± 1.95 kg at the end of the 16-week intervention period (p = 0.01).

The researchers also looked at the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) Score for both groups since this score reflects overall diet quality. Low diet quality scores are associated with multiple cardiometabolic disease outcomes including metabolic syndrome, Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. The HEI score for the tree nut snack group significantly increased, indicating overall improved diet quality, and reflected increased consumption of high protein foods and unsaturated fatty acids. No HEI changes were seen in the carbohydrate snack group.

"As we've shown previously, simply replacing high-carbohydrate snacks with tree nuts is a relatively simple real-world strategy that can be incorporated in dietary guidelines and health promotion programs that aim to improve cardiometabolic health," stated Dr. Silver2, 3.

1 Lillegard, K., A. Widmer, J.R. Koethe, H.J. Silver, 2025. Consuming tree nuts daily as Between-Meal Snacks Reduces Food Cravings and Improves Diet Quality in American

Young Adults at High Metabolic Syndrome Risk. Nutrients. 17, 3778. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17233778.

2 Widmer, A., K. Lillegard, K. Wood, M. Robles, R. Fan, F. Ye, J.R. Koethe, H.J. Silver, 2025. Consumption of Tree Nuts as Snacks Stimulates Changes in Plasma Fatty Acid Profiles and Adipose Tissue Gene Expression in Young Adults at Risk for Metabolic Syndrome. Clinical Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2025.03.002.

3 Sumislawski K., Widmer A., Suro R.R., Robles M.E., Lillegard K., Olson D., Koethe J.R., Silver H.J., 2023. Consumption of tree nuts as snacks reduces metabolic syndrome risk in young adults: A randomized trial. Nutrients. 15, 5051. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15245051.