By Sadie Whitelocks
A handful of nuts a day can keep hunger at bay and beat belly fat, according to scientists.
This is the first time a link between eating nuts and higher levels of serotonin - a substance that decreases appetite, boosts happiness and improves heart health - has been detected.
Researchers from the University of Barcelona say that it only took one ounce of raw and unpeeled walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts a day to produce the positive health effects.
It is hoped the findings, published in the Journal of Proteome Research, will benefit patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS) which is characterised by excess abdominal fat, high blood sugar and high blood pressure.
Dietary changes along with the regular consumption of nuts, which
contain healthy fats and antioxidants, may help patients shed excess weight, decreasing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
The team led by Cristina Andris-Lacueva in collaboration with the Human Nutrition Unit of the Rovira i Virgili University said: 'An increased excretion of serotonin metabolites was associated for the first time with nut consumption.'
Adding that the discovery raises the 'prospects for new intervention targets'.
During the study, scientists put 22 MetS patients on a nut-enriched diet for 12 weeks and compared them to another group of 20 patients who were following a nut-free diet.
Compounds excreted in the patients' urine were then examined.
Those consuming 30 grams of mixed nuts a day displayed higher serotonin levels.
Approximately 90 per cent of the body's serotonin is located in the gut while he remainder is found ...
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