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Effects of almonds on cardiovascular risk factors in overweight and obese Koreans
Author(s) -
Jung Hana,
Chen CY. Oliver,
Blumberg Jeffrey B.,
Kwak HoKyung
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.1175.5
Subject(s) - overweight , crossover study , medicine , obesity , oxidative stress , vitamin e , endocrinology , antioxidant , placebo , chemistry , biochemistry , alternative medicine , pathology
Clinical studies conducted in Americans, Britons, Canadians, and Chinese suggest that almond consumption decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) through beneficial actions on blood glucose and lipids, inflammation, and/or oxidative stress. As background diet and ethnicity can modulate these benefits, we examined whether daily consumption of almonds would improve vitamin E status, lipid profile, and biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation in free‐living overweight/obese Korean adults in a randomized, crossover clinical trial. The protocol included a 2‐wk run‐in period, two 4‐wk intervention phases, and a 2‐wk washout period between the crossover. Of 90 eligible participants who were randomly assigned to consume either 56 g almonds or isocaloric cookies daily for 4‐wk, 85 (10 M/75 F; 52.4 ± 0.6 y; 25.4 ± 0.22 kg/m 2 ) completed the trial. Mean % daily energy intake was 32 vs. 26% from fat and 55 vs. 61% from carbohydrates during the almond and cookie phases, respectively. Energy from protein was similar between the 2 groups. The addition of almonds to habitual diet of the participants increased the intake of poly‐(13.1 vs. 7.8 mg/d) and mono‐unsaturated (26.6 vs. 12.8 mg/d) fat, dietary fiber (25.5 vs. 20.9 g/d), and α‐tocopherol (29.7 vs. 14.0 mg/d) compared to the cookie control (P ≤ 0.001). Neither treatment affected body weight. Almonds tended to decrease serum triglycerides, vascular cell adhesion molecule‐1, and intercellular adhesion molecule‐1. In conclusion, the addition of 56 g/d almonds to Korean diet improves nutrition status and tends to improve selected CVD risk factors. Support or Funding Information Supported by Almond Board of California and USDA