To Stay Slim, Try Nuts, Wine, Sleep

A wealth of findings offer some new tips to keep off the pounds. Looks like tree nuts, red wine, and plenty of sleep can all help you stay fit.

• Researchers found that nut eaters weighed less and had a lower waist circumference and BMI than those who don't eat nuts, the Daily Mail reports. The snacks may also help fight heart disease.

• Meanwhile, scientists have spotted a compound in red wine that battles obesity by slowing the growth of fat cells. The compound, piceatannol, may also fight neurodegenerative diseases and cancer, the Mail notes.
• Sleep habits can also have an effect on your weight: Research subjects who got less than five and a half hours burned some 120 fewer calories a day, leading to a 12.5 pound weight gain over a year. (Another study finds that those who sleep less also consume more calories.)
• Lastly, some news for diet soda fanatics: What you eat is apparently more important than what you drink. Some 32% of diet soda drinkers who ate a "Western" diet of meats, fried food, and sugars developed metabolic syndrome over two decades, compared to 20% of diet soda fans who ate a "prudent" diet of fruits and veggies, fish, and whole grains. The lowest risk, at 17.8%? Those who followed a "prudent" diet and drank no soda, NPR reports.

(More weight loss stories.)