This Snack Could Help Curb Your Sweet Tooth, New Study Suggests

Snacking is a familiar part of daily life for many of us. Whether it’s a midafternoon pick-me-up or a late-night sweet, what we choose to eat between meals matters. Over the past few decades, daily calorie intake from snacks has increased significantly, often from foods like cookies, chips and candy. If consumed in excess, these choices can contribute to weight gain over time.

But not all snacks are created equal. Nutrient-rich options like tree nuts may actually improve diet quality. Observational studies have suggested that people who snack on tree nuts tend to have better overall nutrition. But what happens when this idea is put to the test in a controlled experiment? A recent study aimed to find out by investigating how swapping typical snacks for tree nuts affects food cravings and diet quality in young adults, and the results were published in Nutrients.

How Was This Study Conducted?

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center designed a 16-week, single-blind, randomized trial to get clear answers. They recruited 84 young adults ages 22 to 36 who were at risk for metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.

First, all participants followed a two-week standardized diet to establish a baseline. Then, they were randomly assigned to one of two groups.

• The Tree Nut Group: This group received two daily snacks of a 33.5-gram mix of unsalted, raw tree nuts—specifically almonds, walnuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, pistachios and cashews. You can think of the amount as a small handful.
• The High-Carbohydrate Group: This group was given two carbohydrate-forward daily snacks like pretzels, graham crackers or granola bars, which were comparable in calories, protein and fiber to the tree nut snack.

Throughout the 16-week study, participants met with registered dietitians every two weeks for nutrition counseling and to receive their pre-portioned snacks. Researchers used detailed questionnaires and assessments to track changes. The Food Craving Inventory measured cravings for specific foods, while the Healthy Eating Index was used to score overall diet quality based on alignment with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

What Did the Study Find?

The results showed a clear difference between the two groups. Participants who snacked on tree nuts experienced significant improvements in their eating habits and diet quality.

Those in the tree nut group reported a notable decrease in cravings for specific foods. For example, cravings for cookies dropped by 35%, and cravings for pizza fell by 18%. Overall, they had significantly reduced cravings for sweets and fast-food items. In contrast, the high-carbohydrate snack group showed no significant changes in their food cravings.

This shift in cravings translated into different food choices. The tree nut group reduced their consumption of salty snacks and frozen desserts. More importantly, their overall diet quality, as measured by the Healthy Eating Index, increased by 19%. This improvement was largely driven by a higher intake of healthy unsaturated fats and more protein from plant sources.

Interestingly, those who snacked on mixed nuts also showed a natural increase in levels of  GLP-1, which is a hormone that plays a role in appetite regulation. The rise in GLP-1 was linked to the observed decrease in cravings, suggesting a potential biological mechanism behind the positive changes in snacking behavior.

Meanwhile, the group eating carbohydrate-based snacks saw no improvement in their Healthy Eating Index score. They also tended to feel hungrier and ended up consuming more calories, leading to a small but still observable average weight gain of about 1.7 pounds. The tree nut group maintained their weight throughout the study.

This isn’t the first study linking nut consumption to similar positive outcomes. A study published in Current Developments in Nutrition showed that young adults who ate nuts, particularly those who included walnuts in their snacks, had lower rates of obesity compared to non-nut eaters, with especially strong effects in young women.

Study Limitations

Every study has limitations, and it’s important to consider them. The findings relied on self-reported data for food cravings and dietary intake, which can be subject to memory and reporting biases. Additionally, the number of participants was relatively small, which means the results might not apply to everyone. The study was also funded by the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research and Education Foundation, though the organization had no role in the study’s design, analysis or interpretation of the findings.

How Does This Apply to Real Life?

The study’s findings offer a simple and practical takeaway: Changing just one part of your diet—your daily snack—can have a ripple effect on your overall eating habits. Swapping ultra-processed, high-carbohydrate snacks for a handful of tree nuts could be an effective strategy to reduce desire for less-nutritious foods.

This small change can help you naturally steer toward a more balanced diet without feeling deprived. By taming the desire for high-added-sugar and high-sodium snacks, you make it easier to follow a healthier eating pattern. Over time, these improvements may support better metabolic health and reduce the risk factors associated with conditions like metabolic syndrome.

Our Expert Take

This randomized controlled trial published in Nutrients provides evidence for a simple dietary swap. By replacing typical high-carb refined snacks with tree nuts for 16 weeks, participants experienced fewer cravings for sweet and fast foods, which led to a clinically meaningful improvement in their overall diet quality. They accomplished this without feeling hungrier or gaining weight.

The research highlights how a small, intentional choice can create a positive cascade of benefits for your health. Choosing nutrient-dense snacks like tree nuts isn’t just about what you’re adding to your diet, but also about the cravings you might leave behind. It’s a powerful reminder that simple, sustainable changes can make a big difference in our long-term well-being.