High nut intake was also associated with greater microbial diversity
A recent study published in Obesity set out to examine the relationships among nut consumption, gut microbiota and body fat distribution.
This large, community-based population study included 2,255 Chinese adults living in urban areas in Lanxi City, China. Fat distribution was assessed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and nut consumption was assessed using food frequency questionnaires. Stool samples from 1,724 participants underwent 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing.
The findings showed that nut consumption was associated with a healthy distribution of body fat. Gut microbial analysis suggested that high nut intake was associated with greater microbial alpha-diversity. Six genera were found to be associated with nut consumption. Abundance of the genera Anaerobutyricum, Anaerotaenia and Fusobacterium was significantly associated with fat distribution. Favorable associations between alpha-diversity and fat distribution were also found.
The researchers concluded that nut consumption may be beneficially associated with body fat distribution as well as gut microbiota diversity and taxonomy.
Shi, Y., Kan, J., Wang, W., Cao, Y., Wu, Y., Chen, X., Zheng, W., Yang, F., Du, J., He, W., & Zhu, S. (2024). Nut consumption, gut microbiota, and body fat distribution: results of a large, community-based population study. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 32(9), 1778–1788.