Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Clinical Trial
. 2017 Oct 1:117:51-57.
doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2017.06.008. Epub 2017 Jun 10.

A walnut-containing meal had similar effects on early satiety, CCK, and PYY, but attenuated the postprandial GLP-1 and insulin response compared to a nut-free control meal

Cheryl L Rock  1 , Shirley W Flatt  2 , Hava-Shoshana Barkai  2 , Bilge Pakiz  2 , Dennis D Heath  2
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

A walnut-containing meal had similar effects on early satiety, CCK, and PYY, but attenuated the postprandial GLP-1 and insulin response compared to a nut-free control meal

Cheryl L Rock et al. Appetite. .

Abstract

Regular nut consumption is associated with lower adiposity and reduced weight gain in adulthood. Walnut feeding studies have observed minimal effect on body weight despite potential additional energy intake. Several mechanisms may explain why consuming nuts promotes weight control, including increased early phase satiety, possibly reflected in postprandial response of gastrointestinal and pancreatic peptides hypothesized to affect appetite. The purpose of this study was to compare postprandial insulin, glucagon and gastrointestinal peptide response and satiety following a meal with ∼54% of energy from walnuts or cream cheese, using a within-subject crossover study design in overweight/obese adults (N = 28). Sixty minutes after the walnut-containing meal, glucagon-like peptide-1 was lower than after the reference meal (p=0.0433), and peptide YY, cholecystokinin and ghrelin did not differ after the two meals. Sixty and 120 min after the walnut-containing meal, pancreatic polypeptide (p = 0.0014 and p = 0.0002) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.0079) were lower than after the reference meal, and 120 min after the walnut-containing meal, glucagon was higher (p=0.0069). Insulin and C-peptide increased at 60 min in response to both meals but were lower at 120 min after the walnut-containing meal (p=0.0349 and 0.0237, respectively). Satiety measures were similar after both meals. These findings fail to support the hypothesis that acute postprandial gastrointestinal peptide response to a walnut-containing meal contributes to increased satiety. However, inclusion of walnuts attenuated the postprandial insulin response, which may contribute to the more favorable lipid profile observed in association with regular walnut consumption.

Keywords: Insulin; Postprandial gastrointestinal peptides; Satiety; Walnuts.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Satiety measures after experimental (walnut) or reference (control) breakfast. Questions were “How hungry do you feel” (“Hungry”), “How full do you feel” (“Full”), “How much do you think you could eat” (“Quant”). Satiety index (“Satiety”) is aggregated among the three questions on a 100-point scale. “Exp” denotes experimental meal, and “Ref” denotes reference meal.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Ghrelin, cholecystokinin (CCK), glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), and peptide YY after experimental (walnut) or reference (control) breakfast. “Exp” denotes experimental meal, and “Ref” denotes reference meal.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Insulin (bars) and glucagon (lines) after experimental (walnut) or reference (control) breakfast. “Exp” denotes experimental meal, and ���Ref” denotes reference meal. Values shown are means and standard errors. Glucagon response was different by meal type, p = 0.0031.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Abazarfard Z, Salehi M, Keshavarzi S. The effect of almonds on anthropometric measurements and lipid profile in overweight and obese females in a weight reduction program: A randomized controlled clinical trial. Journal of Research in Medical Sciences : The Official Journal of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. 2014 May;19(5):457–464. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Babio N, Toledo E, Estruch R, Ros E, Martinez-Gonzalez MA, Castaner O, et al. Mediterranean diets and metabolic syndrome status in the PREDIMED randomized trial. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal = journal de l’Association medicale canadienne. 2014 Nov 18;186(17):E649–E657. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Baer DJ, Gebauer SK, Novotny JA. Walnuts consumed by healthy adults provide less available energy than predicted by the Atwater factors. The Journal of Nutrition. 2016 Jan;146(1):9–13. - PubMed
    1. Bes-Rastrollo M, Wedick NM, Martinez-Gonzalez MA, Li TY, Sampson L, Hu FB. Prospective study of nut consumption, long-term weight change, and obesity risk in women. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2009 Jan;89(6):1913–1919. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brennan AM, Sweeney LL, Liu X, Mantzoros CS. Walnut consumption increases satiation but has no effect on insulin resistance or the metabolic profile over a 4-day period. Obesity. 2010 Jan;18(6):1176–1182. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms