Eat More Nuts, But Don’t Go Overboard

Here’s a meta-analysis that authenticates the view that nuts have considerable health benefits.  It’s published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, and was done at Loma Linda University, California. 

The results from 25 nut consumption studies, from 7 countries, were pooled for this analysis.  There were 583 men and women enrolled, some with raised blood cholesterol levels but who were not taking cholesterol-lowering or triglyceride-lowering medication.  Most of the studies focused on almonds or walnuts; they all included control groups, and lasted from 3 to 8 weeks.

The average daily consumption of nuts in the test group was 67 grams – approximately 2.4 ounces, or 2/3 of a cup of walnut halves.  Compared with the control groups, the nut-eaters had the following average changes:

Total cholesterol – decrease of 10.9 mg/dL, or 5.1%

Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) – decrease of 10.2 mg/dL, or 7.4%

Ratio of LDL-C to HDL-C – improvement of 8.3%

Reduction in baseline triglyceride levels above 150 mg/dL – decrease of 20.6 mg/dL, or 10.2%  (no reduction in baseline triglyceride levels below 150 mg/dL.)

In general, the lipid-lowering effects of eating nuts were greatest in people with high baseline LDL-C, a low body mass index, and those following a Western diet.  Different types of nuts had similar effects on the lipid levels.

The chief researcher for this analysis believes it provides the best evidence yet that eating nuts reduces LDL cholesterol.  However, nuts are high in calories, so don’t take more than 3 ounces a day, or you will truly balloon.