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Pistachios are the perfect snack if you’re trying to lose weight. New research has found that not all of the fat in pistachios is absorbed by the body, meaning they’re lower in calories than other nuts. While nuts are usually on the dieter’s list of no-nos, they’re great for snacking on because they’re full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, protein and healthy fats. And with pistachio nuts you won’t have to limit yourself to the occasional small handful.

Snack smarter

Researchers put 52 obese people on a 500 calorie weight loss diet. Half of them were given pretzels to snack on, while the other half were given pistachios. After 12 weeks the pistachio snackers lost more weight than the pretzel group did.

‘What we found is that when people consume the nuts, all the fat wasn’t absorbed by the body and therefore the calories weren’t all available to the body,’ Dr. David Baer, lead researcher, told DietsInReview.

Dr Baer added that pistachio nuts are far healthier snacks than crisps and pretzels. ‘Pistachios are a great source of some of the key nutrients that are low in a lot of diets,’ including iron, selenium, vitamin E and calcium.

Mindful snacking

Besides being packed with nutrients, pistachios also encourage what behavioural eating expert Dr James Painter calls ‘mindful snacking’. His theory is that shelling pistachios makes you aware of how much you’re eating, meaning you’ll eat less. ‘This is in keeping with existing research showing that when a person has visual cues of “leftovers,” such as pistachio shells, they can see how many or how much they have eaten, helping to control portion size and consumption,’ he explained.

Research on nuts has found that those who eat them often have a lower BMI than those who don’t. This may be because people who eat nuts have healthier diets overall. But that doesn’t mean you can’t start improving your diet now by snacking on pistachio nuts.

Tags: Healthy diet, snacks, weight loss