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Eating Nuts Associated With
Improved Cholesterol Levels
Consuming more nuts appears to be associated with improvements
in blood cholesterol levels, according to a pooled analysis of data
from 25 trials reported in the May 10 issue of Archives of Internal
Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
“Dietary interventions to lower blood cholesterol concentrations and to
modify blood lipoprotein levels are the cornerstone of prevention and
treatment plans for coronary heart disease” “Recently, consumption of
nuts has been the focus of intense research because of their potential
to reduce coronary heart disease risk and to lower blood lipid [fat and
cholesterol] levels based on their unique nutritional attributes.”
Nuts are rich in plant proteins, fats (especially unsaturated fatty acids),
dietary fiber, minerals, vitamins and antioxidants and phytosterols.
Researchers from Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, Calif., and
colleagues pooled primary data from 25 individual nut consumption trials
conducted in seven countries and involving 583 women and men with
high cholesterol or normal cholesterol levels. All the studies compared
a control group to a group assigned to consume nuts; participants were
not taking lipid-lowering medications.
Participants in the trials consumed an average of 67 grams (about 2.4
ounces) of nuts per day. This was associated with an average 5.1 percent
reduction in total cholesterol concentration, a 7.4 percent reduction in
low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or “bad” cholesterol) and an 8.3 percent
change in ratio of LDL cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or
“good” cholesterol). In addition, triglyceride levels declined by 10.2 percent
among individuals with high triglyceride levels (at least 150 milligrams
per deciliter), although not among those with lower levels.
“The effects of nut consumption were dose related, and different types
of nuts had similar effects on blood lipid levels,” the authors write. “The
effects of nut consumption were significantly modified by LDL-C, body
mass index and diet type: the lipid-lowering effects of nut consumption
were greatest among subjects with high baseline LDL-C and with low
body mass index and among those consuming Western diets.”
The results support the inclusion of nuts in therapeutic dietary
interventions for improving blood cholesterol levels, they conclude. “Nuts
are a whole food that have been consumed by humans throughout history.
Increasing the consumption of nuts as part of an otherwise prudent diet
can be expected to favorably affect blood lipid levels (at least in the short
term) and have the potential to lower coronary heart disease risk.”
Journal Reference:
Nut Consumption and Blood Lipid Levels: A Pooled Analysis of 25 Intervention
Trials. Arch Intern Med, 2010;
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