Almond Consumption and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Adults with Prediabetes

Abstract

An ADA diet consisting of 20% of calories as almonds over a 16-week period is effective in improving markers of insulin sensitivity and yields clinically significant improvements in LDL-C in adults with prediabetes.

An almond-enriched diet increases plasma α-tocopherol and improves vascular function but does not affect oxidative stress markers or lipid levels

“…In addition, lipid abnormalities may mediate this effect; hyperlipidemia in obese hypertensive individuals has been attributed to impairment of the baroreceptor reflex leading to increased BP [34]. In pre-diabetes subjects with insulin resistance, no improvement of systolic BP was noted after almond consumption [16,35].. In the present study, systolic BP was decreased significantly in all intervention groups but not the control group who maintained their habitual diet and did not consume almonds.…”

“…However, dietary intervention with almonds has improved markers of insulin sensitivity in adults with prediabetes [16]. Independently, consumption of almonds was shown to influence a few but not all markers of inflammation and haemostasis in a dose-independent manner [17].…”

The role of nuts consumption in the primary and secondary prevention of type 2 diabetes

“…However, it should be pointed out that a similar effect was achieved in the group consuming olive oil [20]. The consumption of almonds (56 g/d) was also associated with the reduction of the HOMA-IR index in patients by 40% and the decrease in insulin secretion by 24-33% [17][18][19]. It is concluded that nuts can be a positive factor in the glycaemic control and in the improvement of the insulin sensitivity and the effect was the most frequently observed after 4-6 weeks.…”

“…The evidence submitted above confirmed, that nuts reveal positive impact on the glycaemic index and the tissue resistance [13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. However, in the process of disease progress monitoring there is an additional index applied -HbA 1c , which enables to reflect the glycaemic state up to three months back, which is linked to the period of the erythrocyte life cycle (8-12 weeks) [4,27].…”

“…The literature also presents the results of the trials showing that nuts also have an influence on the improvement of the insulin sensitivity of tissues although the authors suggest that it may be largely caused by the simultaneous reduction of the body mass [16][17][18][19]. The PREDIMED trial [16], where nuts were an addition to the Mediterranean diet, showed the reduction of the postprandial glycaemia and insulin secretion and the improvement of insulin sensitivity measured using the HOMA-IR (Homeostatic Model Assessment Insulin Resistance) index.…”