Recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses of nut RCTs showed that almonds were the only nut that had a small but significant decrease in both mean body mass and fat mass, compared to control diets.
The biological mechanisms for almond weight control include enhanced displacement of other foods, decreased macronutrient bioavailability for a lower net metabolizable energy (ME), upregulation of acute signals for reduced hunger, and elevated satiety and increased resting energy expenditure.
Almonds can support colonic microbiota health by promoting microflora richness and diversity, increasing the ratio of symbiotic to pathogenic microflora, and concentrations of health-promoting colonic bioactives.
This narrative review of 64 RCTs and 14 meta-analyses and/or systematic reviews presents a more in-depth analysis of almond clinical trials and their effects on weight measures, metabolic health biomarkers and outcomes, and colonic microbiota health than typically described in systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses. Almonds have one of the largest portfolios of RCTs on weight measures, metabolic health, and colonic microbiota of any food. These RCTs consistently support an important role for almonds in reducing body and fat mass, other weight measures, and promoting metabolic health as a premier snack for precision nutrition diets
