Study recommends snacking on peanuts or peanut butter 3-4 times a week to lose weight

For many chocolate lovers, after the Tel Aviv University study came out in February recommending chocolate cake for breakfast to lose weight, it was a mouth-watering and delightful news. It’s because the favourite dessert, once considered too “sinful” for people with weight problems, is safe to have at the first meal of the day.

However, there would be times when there is no cake around, so another yummy treat, chocolate bars, deserve two thumbs up of approval because it not only prevents heart problems, it also improves brain function. A third favourite food was just added to the list of delicious snack items that could help lose weight.

It is peanuts or peanut butter which must be taken three to four times weekly to either shed pounds or have overall better health, says a new study by researchers at the University of Houston’s Department of Health and Human Performance, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Women’s University. The 12-week study had 257 Latino adolescent respondents from three Houston-area schools who were undergoing nutrition education and physical activity regimen.

Half were given peanuts or peanut butter three to four times a week, while the other half less than once a week. The study found that those who received peanuts or peanut butter more frequently registered a decrease in their overall body mass index by 0.7 kilogramme/m2 compared to the other group who lost only 0.3 kilogramme/m2.

Craig Johnston, health and human performance professor from the university, explains that the researchers picked peanuts because it is a nutrient-dense snack that promotes a feeling of being full, reports The Indian Express. Researchers, who ensured the students did not suffer from nut allergies, recommended that peanuts replace energy dense and unhealthy snacks for after school programmes. They were given the peanuts before boarding the school bus to go home.

Johnston notes, “What we found is that kids get home from school at around 4 p.m. There’s less supervision by parents and less structure. Kids are sitting down at the TV and eating, eating, eating because they really didn’t eat at school.”

With chocolate cake for breakfast and peanuts for snacks, losing weight has just become a better proposition, of course mixed with regular exercise and healthy meals the rest of the day.