Researchers from Harvard University's Nurses' Health Study published results in the recent "British Medical Journal" showing that women who eat more than five ounces of nuts a week have a 35 percent reduction in risk of total coronary heart disease, compared to women who eat only one ounce of nuts a month or none at all. This study adds to a large and growing body of evidence suggesting that nuts can be an integral part of a heart-healthy diet. "We found a strong and significant association between nut consumption and reduced risk of coronary heart disease among these women" said Frank Hu, MD, lead author and research associate at the Harvard School of Public Health. In fact, coronary health benefits were found for tree nuts, such as almonds, as well as for peanuts. "These benefits held even after taking lifestyle factors into account (e.g. smoking, body mass index, exercise, dietary pattern) that are known to affect coronary heart disease risk. An important message from a study like this is that simple lifestyle changes, like eating at least five ounces of nuts each week, may help combat heart disease -- the leading killer of women in America."
Nuts! More than a Seed of Truth Started in 1976, the Nurses' Health Study regularly collects medical and lifestyle data from close to 120,000 women to help identify risk factors for diseases such as coronary heart disease and cancer. In this current British Medical Journal study, questionnaires were mailed four times from 1980 -- 1990 to assess the frequency of nut consumption among female nurses who were free from heart disease and cancer at the start of the study. The subjects' coronary heart disease status was reported from 1980 to mid-1994 and verified by medical review. Data from over 86,000 women were statistically analyzed for associations between nut consumption frequency and both fatal coronary heart disease and non-fatal heart attack. "The association between frequent nut consumption and reduced risk of coronary heart disease we found in our population is strikingly similar to findings from several other large-scale epidemiological studies and from dietary interventions," commented Dr. Hu. One such study demonstrated a 50 percent reduction in coronary heart disease risk among Seventh Day Adventists consuming nuts at least five times a week over those who ate no nuts at all. Similarly, the Iowa Women's Health Study, another large study of women, reported a 57 percent reduction in coronary heart disease risk among those consuming two to four servings of nuts weekly. Intervention studies in which heart-healthy diets have been supplemented with relatively large amounts of almonds have shown significant reductions in total blood cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (the so-called "bad cholesterol") levels, but preservation of high-density lipoprotein (the "good cholesterol") levels. This effect on blood cholesterol occurred in spite of total dietary fat consumption among subjects well in excess of the recommended 30 percent of calories from fat. "The almond industry is very excited about the recent Harvard findings," said Chris Heintz, Director of Research at the Almond Board of California. "The evidence keeps mounting that there is a heart-healthy role for almonds and other nuts in everyone's diet."
Nuts! How Do They Do What They Do To Me? Although the exact mechanism behind the protective effects of nuts is not known, there are several possibilities. First, most commonly consumed nuts have a heart-healthy fat profile. They are a good source of unsaturated fats, including monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, and contain little saturated fat. Moreover, as a plant-based food they contain absolutely no cholesterol. Second, most nuts are also rich sources of the amino acid arginine, a precursor of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide helps increase blood flow to the heart and helps inhibit blood clotting. Third, nuts contain significant amounts of magnesium, vitamin E, fiber, potassium, and alpha-linoleic acid -- all of which are beneficial to coronary health. "It's becoming increasingly clear that the evidence for heart-healthy benefits from nuts is mounting," said Dr. Hu. "Americans should stop being afraid of nuts and learn to fit this nutrient-rich and likely cardioprotective food into their diets."
SOURCE: Nov. 19 /PRNewswire, Harvard University School of Public Health
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