A recent study published in Nutrients found that replacing typical snacks with tree nuts may reduce cravings for unhealthy foods and improve overall diet quality.
In this parallel-arm single-blind randomized trial, researchers set out to compare the effects of consuming a mix of tree nuts versus typical high-carbohydrate food items as between-meal snacks. The study included 84 young adults with at least one metabolic syndrome risk factor. At baseline and after 16 weeks, researchers recorded participants’ cravings for 28 common foods, as well as their dietary intake, food group frequency, hunger and fullness scores, appetite-regulating hormones, and overall diet quality.
Participants who snacked on tree nuts reported significant decreases in cravings for sweets and fast foods—items that tend to be nutrient-poor and energy-dense. In contrast, participants who ate typical high-carbohydrate snacks saw no significant reductions in food cravings or preference for sweets.
Moreover, diet quality scores improved by 19% in participants who ate tree nuts. The researchers concluded that this overall improvement in diet quality in the tree nut group could be explained by the reduction in food cravings and diminished preference for sweet taste, leading to less frequent intake of frozen desserts and sugary snacks.
The researchers concluded that, by reducing cravings for less healthy foods, snacking on tree nuts could lead to a higher-quality, more nutrient-dense diet and mitigate potential negative health effects of snacking.
Lillegard, K., Widmer, A., Koethe, J. R., & Silver, H. J. (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(23), 3778.