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Cashew Nut Consumption Increases HDL Cholesterol and Reduces Systolic Blood Pressure in Asian Indians with Type 2 Diabetes: A 12-Week Randomized Controlled Trial.
Mohan, V, Gayathri, R, Jaacks, LM, Lakshmipriya, N, Anjana, RM, Spiegelman, D, Jeevan, RG, Balasubramaniam, KK, Shobana, S, Jayanthan, M, et al
The Journal of nutrition. 2018;(1):63-69
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Abstract
BACKGROUND There is increasing evidence that nut consumption decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, there are few data on the health effects of cashew nuts among adults with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). OBJECTIVE The study aimed to investigate the effects of cashew nut supplementation on glycemia, body weight, blood pressure, and lipid profile in Asian Indians with T2DM. METHODS In a parallel-arm, randomized controlled trial, 300 adults with T2DM [mean ± SD age: 51 ± 9.3 y; body mass index (BMI; in kg/m2): 26.0 ± 3.4; 55% male] were randomly assigned to receive advice to follow a standard diabetic diet (control) or similar advice plus 30 g cashew nuts/d (intervention) for 12 wk. The macronutrient composition of the prescribed diabetic diet was 60-65% energy from carbohydrates, 15-25% from fat, and the rest from protein. Differences between groups in changes in anthropometric and biochemical variables were analyzed using linear models with robust variance estimation under an assumed independence working correlation. RESULTS Participants in the intervention group had a greater decrease in systolic blood pressure from baseline to 12 wk than did controls (-4.9 ± 13.7 compared with -1.7 ± 11.6 mm Hg; P = 0.04) and a greater increase in plasma HDL cholesterol compared with controls (+1.7 ± 5.6 compared with +0.1 ± 4.6 mg/dL; P = 0.01). There were no differences between the groups with respect to changes in body weight, BMI, blood lipid, and glycemic variables. Plasma oleic acid concentrations and self-reported dietary intake of nuts, oleic acid, and monounsaturated fatty acids suggested excellent compliance with the nut consumption. CONCLUSION Cashew nut supplementation in Asian Indians with T2DM reduced systolic blood pressure and increased HDL cholesterol concentrations with no deleterious effects on body weight, glycemia, or other lipid variables. This study was registered at the clinical trial registry of India as CTRI/2017/07/009022.
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Effect of pistachio consumption on plasma lipoprotein subclasses in pre-diabetic subjects.
Hernández-Alonso, P, Salas-Salvadó, J, Baldrich-Mora, M, Mallol, R, Correig, X, Bulló, M
Nutrition, metabolism, and cardiovascular diseases : NMCD. 2015;(4):396-402
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS Nuts have been demonstrated to improve several cardiovascular risk factors and the lipid profile in diabetic and pre-diabetic subjects. However, analysis of conventional serum lipid profiles does not completely explain the atherogenic risk associated with pre-diabetes. We therefore investigated whether chronic consumption of pistachio modifies the lipoprotein subclasses to a healthier profile in pre-diabetic subjects. METHODS AND RESULTS Randomized cross-over clinical trial in 54 subjects with pre-diabetes. Subjects consumed a pistachio-supplemented diet (PD, 50% carbohydrates, 33% fat, including 57 g/d of pistachios daily) and a control diet (CD, 55% carbohydrates, 30% fat) for 4 months each, separated by a 2-week wash-out. Diets were isocaloric and matched for protein, fiber and saturated fatty acids. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was performed to determine changes in plasma lipoprotein subclasses. Small low-density lipoprotein particles (sLDL-P) significantly decreased after pistachio consumption compared to the nut-free diet (P = 0.023). The non-high-density lipoprotein particles (non-HDL-P i.e. VLDL-P plus LDL-P) significantly decreased under the PD compared to CD (P = 0.041). The percentage of sHDL-P increased by 2.23% after the PD compared with a reduction of 0.08% after the CD (P = 0.014). Consequently, the overall size of HDL-P significantly decreased in the PD (P = 0.007). CONCLUSION Chronic pistachio consumption could modify the lipoprotein particle size and subclass concentrations independently of changes in total plasma lipid profile, which may help to explain the decreased risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality associated with those individuals who frequently consumed nuts. REGISTRATION NUMBER This study is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01441921.