Nut intake is inversely related to insulin resistance and CRP levels (370.2)

Objective: To examine the link between nuts intake and both insulin resistance (IR) and inflammation as measured by C‐ reactive protein (CRP). Methods: Data on 773 participants (571 females and 285 males), with a mean age of 58 years from the Adventist Health Study‐2 cohort were Cross‐sectionally analyzed. Total nuts intake, including peanuts was obtained from six unannounced telephone‐based 24‐hour dietary recalls and subjects were classified by tertiles of intake. IR was determined by Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA‐IR), > 1.7. Multivariate logistic regression was used to compute the odds ratios (ORs) while adjusting for relevant demographic, dietary and lifestyle factors. Results: The odds of IR lowered with increased nuts intake. Compared with the lowest tertile the medium and high nut intake tertiles had an OR of 0.587 (95% CI 0.406‐0. 847, P, 0.004) and an OR of 0.523 (95% CI 0.360‐0.762, P, 0.001) respectively. This observed association was attenuated when additionally adjusting for BMI. High nut intake was linked to lower levels of CRP (OR 0.629, 95% CI 0.420‐0.960, P, 0.014, comparing higher versus lower nut intake tertiles). However, further adjustment for BMI resulted in loss of the statistical significance. Conclusion: High nut intake favorably relates to insulin sensitivity and lower inflammatory status. BMI seems to modulate some of these effects. Grant Funding Source : The study supported by NIH/NCI Grant # 5U01CA152939