Plant Foods, Antioxidant Biomarkers, and the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, and Mortality: A Review of the Evidence.

Although a high intake of plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and legumes has been recommended for chronic disease prevention, it has been unclear what is the optimal amount of intake of these foods and whether specific subtypes are particularly beneficial. The evidence from several recently published meta-analyses on plant foods and antioxidants […]

Anti-atherosclerotic and cardiovascular protective benefits of Brazilian nuts.

Brazil nuts are rich in magnesium, selenium, arginine and other amino acids, dietary fiber, tocopherols (vitamin E), phytosterols, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, sitosterols, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, polyphenols and other amino acids. Due to such a rich mixture of nutrients, Brazil nuts protect LDL from peroxidation, and improve endothelial function, blood pressure, lipid metabolism, […]

Health Benefits of Nut Consumption in Middle-Aged and Elderly Population.

Aging is considered the major risk factor for most chronic disorders. Oxidative stress and chronic inflammation are two major contributors for cellular senescence, downregulation of stress response pathways with a decrease of protective cellular activity and accumulation of cellular damage, leading in time to age-related diseases. This review investigated the most recent clinical trials and […]

Nut consumption and incidence of cardiovascular diseases and cardiovascular disease mortality: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.

CONTEXT: Previous meta-analyses evaluating the association between nut consumption and the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) had substantial methodological limitations and lacked recently published large prospective studies; hence, making an updated meta-analysis highly desirable. OBJECTIVE: To update the clinical guidelines for nutrition therapy in relation to the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), […]

Almond Consumption and Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Evidence suggests that eating nuts may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating almond consumption and risk factors for CVD. MEDLINE, Cochrane Central, Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau, and previous systematic reviews were searched from 1990 through June 2017 for RCTs of ≥3 wk […]

Long term association of nut consumption and cardiometabolic risk factors.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Long-term associations between nut consumption and cardiometabolic risk factors are not well known. We investigated the relationship between nut consumption and cardiometabolic risk factors including dyslipidemia, hypertension, diabetes mellitus (DM), and obesity in a cohort of Iranian adults. METHODS AND RESULTS: The study was conducted within the framework of the Isfahan Cohort […]

Mechanisms Underlying the Cardiometabolic Protective Effect of Walnut Consumption in Obese Subjects: A Cross‐Over, Randomized, Double‐Blinded, Controlled Inpatient Physiology Study.

AIMS: To assess the effects of walnuts on cardiometabolic outcomes in obese subjects and to explore underlying mechanisms using novel methods including metabolomic, lipidomic, glycomic, and microbiome analysis integrated with lipid particle fractionation, appetite-regulating hormones and hemodynamic measurements. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 10 obese subjects were enrolled in this cross-over, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Patients […]

Replacing Saturated Fat With Walnuts or Vegetable Oils Improves Central Blood Pressure and Serum Lipids in Adults at Risk for Cardiovascular Disease: A Randomized Controlled‐Feeding Trial.

BACKGROUND: Walnuts have beneficial effects on cardiovascular risk factors, but it is unclear whether these effects are attributable to the fatty acid (FA) content, including α-linolenic acid (ALA), and/or bioactives. METHODS AND RESULTS: A randomized, controlled, 3-period, crossover, feeding trial was conducted in individuals at risk for cardiovascular disease (n=45). Following a 2-week standard Western […]