New research says eating nuts could be a valuable, tasty and nutritious slimming aid. Researchers from Harvard University recommended that people replace a daily unhealthy snack with a small handful of nuts to slow down weight gain. They say this is especially helpful for people as they get older. The researchers found that people who ate just 14g of nuts every day gained less weight than those who ate another snack. The people who ate the nuts were less likely to become obese. However, the benefits to our weight could be quite small. The scientists said swapping chocolate, cakes and potato chips with nuts could help prevent a weight gain of just 0.4 to 0.7kg over four years.

新的研究表明，吃坚果可能是一种有价值的、美味的和有营养的减肥帮助。哈佛大学的研究人员建议人们用少量坚果来代替日常不健康的零食，以减缓体重增加。他们说，随着年龄的增长，这对人们尤其有帮助。研究人员发现，每天只吃14克坚果的人比每天只吃一份零食的人体重增加得少。吃坚果的人不太可能变胖。然而，对我们体重的好处可能很小。科学家们表示，用坚果代替巧克力、蛋糕和薯片可以帮助人们在4年内减少0.4到0.7公斤的体重。

The researchers conducted a long-term study in which they looked at the lifestyle of nearly 190,000 people over two decades. The participants in the research were divided into three groups. They included more than 51,000 male health professionals aged 40 to 75, 121,700 nurses aged 35 to 55 and 16,686 nurses aged 24 to 44. Researchers asked the participants questions every four years about their weight, how often they ate nuts, and how often they exercised. Researcher doctor Xiaoran Liu said: "Incorporating nuts [into] a healthy diet by replacing less healthy foods may help [reduce] the gradual weight gain common during adulthood and beneficially contribute to the prevention of obesity."

研究人员进行了一项长期研究，他们观察了近20年来19万人的生活方式。研究的参与者被分为三组。其中包括年龄在40岁至75岁之间的51,000多名男性卫生专业人员、年龄在35岁至55岁之间的121,700名护士和年龄在24岁至44岁之间的16,686名护士。研究人员每四年询问参与者关于他们的体重、多久吃一次坚果、多久锻炼一次的问题。研究员刘晓然博士说:“通过取代不太健康的食物，将坚果纳入健康的饮食中，可能有助于减少成年期常见的逐渐增加的体重，并有助于预防肥胖。”