Almonds and Cardiovascular Health: A Review

Abstract

Several preventive strategies to reduce dyslipidemia have been suggested, of which dietary modification features as an important one. Dyslipidemia is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease and strategies to manage dyslipidemia have been shown to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Although there are proven pharmacological therapies to help manage this condition, nutritional interventions are a safer option to help prevent and manage dyslipidemia. Addition of almonds in the daily diet has been proposed to beneficially impact the lipid profile. This review critically examines the available evidence assessing the effect of almonds on dyslipidemia in the South Asian (particularly Indian) context. An extensive review comprised of epidemiological studies, clinical trials, meta-analyses, and systematic reviews was conducted from published literature from across the world. Studies examining the effect of almonds on different aspects of dyslipidemia viz. high low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), low high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), triglyceridaemia, and high total cholesterol levels have been included. In several studies, almonds have been shown to reduce LDL-C—which is a known risk factor for CHD—and the effect of almonds has been well documented in systematic reviews and meta-analysis of clinical trials. Addition of almonds in the diet has been shown to not only to reduce LDL-C levels, but also to maintain HDL-C levels. This review provides information about the use of this simple nutritional strategy which may help manage known major risk factors for heart disease, such as high LDL-C and low HDL-C levels especially in the context of South Asians.

Prospective randomized controlled pilot study on the effects of almond consumption on skin lipids and wrinkles

“…Wrinkle severity (Figure 3a Figure 4 for facial images of control group and almond group subjects at baseline and after 16 weeks of almond consumption. In particular, for consumers who value food-based therapies as nutritional options for antiaging purposes, almond consumption has appeal due to its overall healthpromoting benefits including essential fatty acids and vitamin E. Of particular interest is that almonds have benefits beyond the skinrelated effects noted in this study (Hyson, Schneeman, & Davis, 2002;Kalita et al, 2018). For instance, one clinical study demonstrated that in patients with coronary artery disease who consumed a small dose (10 g/day) of almonds that were soaked overnight and taken on an empty stomach, the levels of the protective high-density…”

Nuts as Dietary Source of Fatty Acids and Micro Nutrients in Human Health

“…Some combination of medicine such as high doses of niacin, fibric acid or bile acid sequestrants can improve HDL-C minimally [33]. According to the Indian Heart Association 2015, risk of heart disease comes to half with every 10 fold increase in HDL-C [34].…”

Relationships between Nut Size, Kernel Quality, Nutritional Composition and Levels of Outcrossing in Three Macadamia Cultivars

“…However, the differences in fatty acid profile between small and large kernels were much less than the differences between macadamia cultivars [27,72,73] and between tree-nut species including almond, hazelnut, macadamia, pecan, pistachio and walnut [4,9]. All these nuts are considered beneficial for reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease because of their high levels of unsaturated fatty acids [1,2,7,10,14,[74][75][76][77][78][79]. Table 2.…”