Study: Pistachios improve lipid profiles: The growing argument for consuming nuts
Study: Pistachios improve lipid profiles: The growing argument for consuming nuts
The following study examines the effects of consumption of pistachios on the oxidative status and the LDL cholesterol in adults with hypercholesterolemia. It is a randomized crossover study in which the participants either did not take pistachios or one or two portions of pistachios a day. The study shows that both one portion of pistachios a day and two portions per day significantly lower the content of oxidized LDL compared to the control diet. These results indicate that consumption of pistachios can be an important preventive factor for heart disease. Earlier studies have shown that pistachios also improve the standard lipid profiles. There are also other studies that confirm the advantageous effects of nuts on lipid levels and cardiovascular risk. It is emphasized that many doctors still spread the myth that nuts increase cholesterol levels, although the scientific evidence shows the opposite.
Reference
Kay CD, Gebauer SK, West SG, Kris-etherton PM. Pistachios increase the antioxidants in serum and lower the oxidized LDL in serum in adults with hypercholesterolemia. j Nutr . 2010; 140 (6): 1093-1098
Design
A randomized crossover study with a controlled feeding for evaluating 2 cans of pistachios on serum antioxidants and biomarkers of the oxidative status
participant
28 Hypercholesterineemic adults (LDL cholesterol ≥2.86 mmol/l)
study medication and dosage
After a two -week western base diet, the participants ate one of three diets for four weeks, all of which enabled a similar calorie intake. The control diet did not contain pistachios and was lower (25 % total fat). The other two diets contained either 1 or 2 portions of pistachios a day. A portion consisted of 32 to 63 grams of nuts.
main target parameter
Plasma lutein, alpha carotene, beta-carotene, gamma-tocopherol, lipid profiles and oxidized LDL
most important knowledge
Both the diet enriched with pistachios with 1 portion/day as well as with 2 portions/day reduced the content of oxidized LDL compared to the control diet
effects on practice
The LDL amount found in the blood is an indicator of the risk of cardiovascular diseases that has been known for a long time. The amount of oxidized LDL (OX-LDL) has recently been recognized as a factor that contributes to the development and progression of cardiovascular diseases. 1 High OX-LDL levels are with a higher risk of metabolic syndrome, coronary heart disease and acute coronary syndrome Connected. 2 The reduction of the OX-LDL value, as this study shows, is an important goal for disease prevention. Earlier studies have already shown that consumption of pistachios improves the standard lipid profiles.
This current paper by Kay et al. is indeed a further analysis of data from a clinical study with pistachios, which for the first time in 2008 by Baur et al. was published. 3 The first analysis of the data was specifically dealing with the effects of a pistachio -rich diet on more frequent cardiovascular risk factors. Blood samples and data from the same controlled feeding study were analyzed for both works. Gebauer et al. reported that the participants who ate 2 cans of pistachios per day reduced the total cholesterol by 8 % and LDL cholesterol by 11.6 % ( p <0.05) compared to the control diet. The total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio and the LDL cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio dropped for this group of participants by 8 % or 11 % ( p <0.05).
These work does not only indicate that pistachios and other nuts reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
This work does not only indicate that pistachios and other nuts reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. In April 2010 Sari et al. from Gaziatep University School of Medicine in Turkey about their own attempted pistachio. They had given 32 healthy young men a Mediterranean diet for a month and then added pistachios for another month. Compared to the Mediterranean diet, the pistacial diet lowered the blood sugar level by 8.8 % (± 8.5 %). p <0.001), reduced LDL by 23.2 % (± 11.9 %), reduced total cholesterol by 21.2 % (± 9.9 %, p <0.001) and triglycerides by 13.8 %, p = 0.008). The pistachio diet improved the endothelic vasodilation significantly by 30 % ( p = 0.002), reduced serum interleukin-6, total oxidation status, lipid hydroxide and malondialdehyde as well as increased superoxiddismmutase ( p <0.001 for all).
In 2007, Sheridan et al. About a randomized, controlled crossover study, in which 15 volunteers were fed in quantities for four weeks, which made up 15 % of their total calories. Statistically significant reductions were observed in total cholesterol/HDL relationship (-0.38; 95 % KI, -0.57 to -0.19; p = 0.001), LDL/HDL (-0.40; 95 % KI, -0.66 to -0.15; p = 0.004) and a statistical Significant increase in the HDL (+2.3; 95 %-KI, 0.48 to 4.0; p = 0.02).
Other nuts have been shown to improve the lipid values. In May 2010, Sabaté and colleagues from California Loma Loma Linda University reported on a bundled analysis of intervention studies on nuts and blood lipids. 6 They bundled individual primary data from 25 studies on nut consumption that were carried out in 7 countries in 583 men and women with normolipidemia and hypercholesterolemia that were not lipid -to -do medication income. The average nut consumption was 67 grams a day in the potented data. The total cholesterol ink concentration fell by 10.9 mg/dl (-5.1 % change). The LDL cholesterol fell by 10.2 mg/dl (-7.4 % change). The LDL/HDL ratio dropped by 0.22 (-8.3 % change) and the total cholesterol/HDL ratio dropped by 0.24 (-5.6 % change) ( p <.001 for everyone). The triglyceride level fell by 20.6 mg/dl (-10.2 %) for subjects whose mirrors were over 150 mg/dl ( p <.05).
Not all nut studies were equally positive. Phung et al. wrote a meta -analysis of 5 studies on almonds with a total of 142 participants and found a neutral effect on the lipid profiles. 7 A year earlier, Jenkins reported that almonds reduce lipid oxidation. 8 Even if almonds have a neutral effect on the lipid level, they can still be a cardiovascular protection offer.
In addition to the results of these feeding attempts, there are increasingly evidence of the cardiovascular advantages of eating nuts in epidemiological studies. Sabaté and Vienna report in an overview of five large epidemiological studies published in May about "a reduction in death disease by coronary heart disease by 8.3 % for every weekly portion of nuts".Given the number and strength of the studies on nuts and the number of years, since these advantages have been noticed for the first time (Sabaté's first work on walnuts was published in 1993), it is surprising that many doctors do not know that nuts are considered advantageous today. 10 Patients still tell me that their doctors have advised them to reduce the consumption of their cholesterol. lower. This is a medical myth that we should refute loudly. To get patients to increase nut consumption, choose nuts as a snack or add them to other foods as an ingredient is a simple intervention that is proven to bring advantages.