‘Replace the doughnut with almonds’ is the message from researchers from Penn State.
Amongst middle aged, overweight participants with high cholesterol, six weeks of 1.5 ounces of daily almond snacks in lieu of sweets improved LDL/HDL ratios and inflamnmation (Journal of the American Heart Association).
The large 12 week study showed strong evidence that incorporating almonds as snacks instead of pastries in an otherwise healthy diet provides protection against heart disease, obesity and metabolic syndrome, a precursor to diabetes. Despite calorie levels being the same between the two groups, belly fat levels went down in the almond eaters.
Ref: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-01-snacking-almonds-high-carb-snack-belly.html