Eating almonds helps people maintain a healthy gut and can reduce constipation, a study suggests.
Researchers at King’s College London studied 87 healthy adults who typically snacked on crisps and chocolate and did not eat enough fibre.
They were divided into three groups and followed a new snacking pattern over four weeks. The first group ate 56g of whole almonds each day, another had the equivalent in ground almonds and the control group had the same number of calories in muffins.
The research team found that compared with the muffin group, eating the nuts “significantly boosted” people’s levels of butyrate – a short-chain fatty acid that provides the perfect conditions for gut microbes and strengthens the wall of the gut.
People who ate whole almonds