• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Friday, September 5, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Health

Is a calorie a calorie? Not always, when it comes to almonds

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
April 12, 2021
in Health
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
IMAGE
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

IMAGE

Credit: University of Toronto

Researchers at the University of Toronto have found that a calorie labelled is not the same as a calorie digested and absorbed, when the food source is almonds.

The findings should help alleviate concerns that almonds contribute to weight gain, which persist despite the widely recognized benefits of nuts as a plant-based source of protein, vitamins and minerals.

“Nuts have generally been thought of as healthy the last two decades, but the messaging around nuts has often come with a disclaimer that they are high in fat and energy,” said John Sievenpiper, principal investigator on the study and an associate professor in the departments of nutritional sciences and medicine at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

“We still see that caveat in the media and on the internet today, and it has been part of many clinical guidelines, although that is changing,” said Sievenpiper, who is also a staff physician and scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto.

“Other researchers have shown that there is a bioaccessibility issue with nuts, that a calorie labelled may not be a calorie absorbed. This study quantifies that effect with almonds in a relevant population,” Sievenpiper said.

The journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings published the findings today.

The researchers found that after digestion, about 20 per cent of calories derived largely from fat in almonds remained unabsorbed, which they observed in stool samples. That translated to about two per cent less energy absorbed from the diet overall among study participants.

A person eating the same amount of almonds in a daily diet of 2,000 to 3,000 calories would absorb 40 to 60 calories less than would be predicted by Atwater factors, on which many food labels are based. That could result in weight loss up to 2.9 kilograms or 6.3 pounds over a year, assuming no compensation in the form of increased intake or decreased energy expenditure.

Participants in the study did not gain weight, which is consistent with the majority of high-quality trials that measure nut consumption and weight gain, some of which show an association with weight loss, Sievenpiper said.

The researchers used a randomized crossover trial to study 22 women and men with high cholesterol, who underwent a series of three, month-long dietary interventions separated by a week-long washout period.

All study participants consumed an NCEP Step-2 diet (low in saturated fat and cholesterol, part of the U.S. National Cholesterol Education Program). The three dietary interventions were full-dose almonds (75 grams per day or three quarters of a cup); half-dose almonds plus half-dose muffins; and full-dose muffins as a study control.

Nutritional makeup of the muffins matched the almonds in amount of protein, fibre and fats.

“One unique aspect of this study is that it assessed people with high cholesterol, who are at greater risk for cardiovascular disease,” said Stephanie Nishi, a doctoral student in nutritional sciences at the time of the study who is now a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Rovira i Virgili in Spain.

“That has not been done in this population before, and it’s important because this group typically gets many messages to eat more nuts, owing to the evidence for nut consumption and heart health,” Nishi said.

Nishi and Sievenpiper both said there is a big gap between the number of nuts people are recommended to consume and how many they actually eat, generally and in populations at risk for cardiovascular and other disease.

Further barriers stemming from concerns about weight gain are counter-productive, they said.

Diabetes Canada recently adjusted their guidelines based in part on the study’s findings, and to avoid the stigma around nuts and weight gain, said Sievenpiper, who has contributed to guidelines for patients with diabetes and other metabolic disorders, and for cardiovascular disease.

###

Media Contact
Jim Oldfield
[email protected]

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2021.01.026

Tags: CardiologyCholesterolDiet/Body WeightMedicine/HealthMetabolism/Metabolic DiseasesNutrition/Nutrients
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

JAMA Network Introduces JAMA+ Women’s Health Platform

September 5, 2025

Butyric and Valeric Acids Combat Stress-Induced Depression

September 5, 2025

Mapping the Lactylome in Porcine Granulosa Cells

September 5, 2025

Emerging and Persistent Food Insecurity Amid and Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic

September 5, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • blank

    Breakthrough in Computer Hardware Advances Solves Complex Optimization Challenges

    149 shares
    Share 60 Tweet 37
  • Molecules in Focus: Capturing the Timeless Dance of Particles

    142 shares
    Share 57 Tweet 36
  • New Drug Formulation Transforms Intravenous Treatments into Rapid Injections

    115 shares
    Share 46 Tweet 29
  • Modified DASH Diet Reduces Blood Sugar Levels in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes, Clinical Trial Finds

    61 shares
    Share 24 Tweet 15

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Adaptive Visible-Infrared Camouflage Enables Wide-Spectrum Radiation Control for Extreme Temperature Environments

Breakthrough Unleashes the Power of ‘Miracle Material’ for Next-Generation Electronics

$19.4M Funded for an AI Oracle to Tackle Complex Physics Challenges

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.