New York: Including tree nuts in your daily diet could be an easy and inexpensive way to stay slim and fit, suggests a research.

Tree nuts include almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts.

The study of more than 14,000 men and women found that tree nut consumers were 25 percent less likely to be obese and 21 percent less likely to have an elevated waist circumference than those who did not consume tree nuts.

Overall, nut consumption was associated with lower body mass index, systolic blood pressure, insulin resistance and higher levels of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (good cholesterol).

Although tree nuts contain fat and calories, numerous studies have shown that diets ‘enriched with nuts’ do not increase weight.

‘Filled with plant protein, dietary fibre, and healthy mono-and polyunsaturated fatty acids, tree nuts are a satiating food that may actually help suppress appetite,’ said lead study author Carol O'Neil, professor at Louisiana State University Agricultural Centre in the US.

‘Now that summer is here and people tend to be more active outside, tree nuts are a great, portable snack to take to camp, the beach or on a hike,’ Maureen Ternus, executive director of, International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research & Education Foundation (INC NREF) said.

‘Just 1.5 ounces of nuts per day (about 1/3 cup) can give you many of the important vitamins, minerals and energy you need throughout the day,’ Ternus said.

The study was published in the Nutrition Journal.