Scientific Study

Objective: Studies have reported that nuts intake is potentially beneficial to cardiometabolic health. However, there have been heterogenous results regarding the association between nut intake/consumption and the risk of diabetes mellitus (DM). Insulin resistance (IR) is a major pathophysiology of DM. Thus, this study was to assess the association between nuts consumption and IR. Design: A Retrospective Cross-sectional Study. Setting: Multivariable adjusted odd ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for increased IR (adjusted OR [95% CI]) were calculated according to the frequency of consuming one serving dose (15g) of nuts including peanut, pine nut and almond (<1/month, 1/month-1/week, 1-3/week, 3-5/week, ≥ 5/week). Elevated IR was defined in HOMA-IR corresponding to the fourth quartile levels within each study group. Subgroup analysis was conducted for gender, glycemic status (normal, prediabetes and DM) and age (≥ and < 40 years). Participants: 379,310 Koreans who received health check-up. Results: Compared with nut consumption <1/month (reference), nuts consumption ≥ 1/month had the lower OR and 95% CI for elevated IR (1/month-1/week: 0.90 [0.89 - 0.92], 1-3/week: 0.90 [0.87 - 0.92], 3-5/week: 0.94 [0.89 - 0.98] and ≥ 5/week: 0.90 [0.86 - 0.94]). This association was more remarkable in women, normal glycemic group and young age group (< 40 years). However, men, prediabetes, DM and old age group didn't show the significant association. Conclusion: Nuts consumption ≥ 1/month was less associated with elevated IR. Increased nuts consumption may have a favorable effect on IR. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980021003803