A recent study published in Nutrients found that eating almonds every day for six weeks improved inflammatory profiles in adults with obesity.
The aim of this randomized controlled parallel-arm trial was to investigate whether daily almond consumption improved systemic inflammatory and immune markers in adults with obesity. Sixty-nine adults with obesity between the ages of 30 and 45 years were assigned to consume either 57 grams per day of almonds or a calorie-matched cookie snack for six weeks. Researchers measured fasting serum inflammatory cytokines, innate immune cell counts, body weight, serum glucose, insulin, lipid profile, and alpha-tocopherol at baseline and at week six. They also assessed dietary intake, compliance, palatability, acceptance and appetite ratings.
The findings showed that serum interleukin 6, tumor necrosis factor and interferon gamma decreased significantly over six weeks in the almond group relative to the cookie group. Participants who ate almonds also increased their intake of monounsaturated fat, fiber, alpha-tocopherol, magnesium, zinc, and manganese, and improved diet quality indices compared with those who ate cookies. Acceptance was also found to be higher in the almond group than in the cookie group.
The findings provide new evidence showing that daily almond consumption may improve inflammatory profiles in middle-aged adults with obesity. The researchers concluded that the findings support including almonds as a component of dietary strategies to help attenuate obesity-related inflammation.
This research was funded by Almond Board of California.
Adepoju, A., Rabbani, E., Brickey, P., Vieira-Potter, V., & Dhillon, J. (2026). Almond Consumption Improves Inflammatory Profiles Independent of Weight Change: A 6-Week Randomized Controlled Trial in Adults with Obesity. Nutrients, 18(5), 875.