How should I eat nuts and seeds if I want to lose weight?

If you are significantly overweight and want to maximize your weight loss, you should limit your intake of seeds, nuts, and avocados to one 1-ounce serving a day since they are calorie-rich. However, you should not exclude these healthy, high-fat foods completely from your diet. Although it may seem illogical to include such high fat foods in your diet (since fat is 9 calories a gram compared with 4 calories a gram for carbohydrates and protein), epidemiological studies show an inverse relationship between seed and nut consumption and body weight. Interestingly, these studies show including some seeds and nuts in your diet actually aids in appetite suppression and weight loss. Well-controlled trials that looked to see if eating nuts and seeds resulted in weight gain found the opposite; eating raw nuts and seeds promoted weight loss, not weight gain.

Because seeds and nuts are rich in minerals and fiber and have a low glycemic index, they are favorable foods to include in a diet designed for diabetics and even the obese.