Findings
from a new study
published in Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases show that the fatty
acids in nuts have the potential to help reduce the risk of coronary heart
disease (CHD) in people with type 2 diabetes.
Researchers from the University of Toronto and St.
Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada, found that incorporating about two
ounces of tree nuts (almonds, Brazils, cashews, hazelnuts, pecans, pine nuts,
pistachios, macadamias and walnuts) and peanuts into the diet of people with
diabetes, was inversely associated with CHD risk factors and 10-year CHD risk.
According
to Cyril Kendall, Ph.D., co-investigator of the study, “While a number of studies
have shown that nuts can help reduce the risk of CHD and diabetes, no research
to date has looked at the how nuts alter the fatty acid profile in people with diabetes
and how this relates to cardiovascular health.”
This
study is a secondary analysis of the 2011 nuts and diabetes study
by the same researchers. The original
study was a 3-month parallel design with 117 non-insulin dependent adults with
diabetes (men and women with a mean age of 62 years) who were all being treated
with oral hypoglycemic medications. The subjects were randomized to one of
three diets for three months. The first diet included a supplement of 75g (~2½
ounces or ½ cup) of mixed nuts; the second diet included 38g (~1⅓ ounces or ¼
cup) of mixed nuts and half portion of muffins; and the third diet contained a
full portion of muffins. Each
supplement provided approximately 475 calories per 2,000 calorie diet. All of
the diets contained roughly the same number of calories but the nuts provided
more unsaturated (i.e. healthy) fat and less carbohydrate.
“The
results of our current study indicate that by incorporating nuts into a
diabetes diet, one can modify the fatty acid profile of adults with type 2 diabetes
by modestly increasing the unsaturated fatty acid content of blood lipids,” explained
Dr. Kendall. “This in turn has the potential to contribute to the total
reduction of CHD risk in those same individuals.”
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