Perspective: Is it Time to Expand Research on "Nuts" to Include "Seeds"? Justifications and Key Considerations

Abstract

The health benefits of nuts reported throughout the literature are extensive and well established for reducing the risk of, and managing several chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and cognition. Despite their comparable nutrient profile to nuts, seeds are often not assessed in clinical and epidemiological studies. Interestingly, dietary guidelines and recommendations often refer to "nuts and seeds" collectively, even though they are not consistently examined together in nutrition research when determining associated health benefits. The purpose of this review is to call for future nutrition research to consider combining nuts and seeds. This review provides justification for this proposal by summarizing current definitions for nuts and seeds and highlighting the similarities or dissimilarities in their nutrient compositions. Following this, we summarize current evidence on the health benefits of nuts and seeds, research gaps that should be addressed, and considerations for future research using both epidemiological and interventional study designs.

Keywords: clinical study; epidemiology; health; nutrients; nutritional sciences; nuts; seeds.

FIGURE 1

The content of carbohydrate, protein, and fat subtypes in grams (saturated, mono-, and polyunsaturated fats) per 100 g of nuts and seeds. Due to higher water content, both coconut and chestnut have only ∼50–60% of macronutrient content. Unlike other nuts and seeds, chestnuts are high in carbohydrate and coconuts are high in saturated fat. It is noted most nuts are high in monounsaturated fats, whereas walnuts and seeds are higher in polyunsaturated fats. Due to these obvious differences in their nutritional profiles, chestnuts and coconuts should not be included in research that considers nut and seed intake.