Almonds Walnuts are the nuts most associated with heart-healthy benefits – they contain alpha-linolenic acid in larger quantities than some other nuts, and this helps protect against heart disease. But now new research from Loma Linda University’s School of Public Health, published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, shows that adding almonds to your diet can improve insulin sensitivity, and so help prevent the onset of diabetes, and lower levels of bad-cholesterol too.
The researchers split 65 people with an average age of 53.5, all with pre-diabetes (the precursor for type 2 diabetes), into two groups: they either ate a normal diet or a diet with added almonds.
The diets contained the same number of calories, but the almond group took 20% of their calorie intake from almonds (2oz or 55g). Both diets were based on guidelines issued by the American Diabetes Association and were low-fat, low-calorie, and contained plenty of vegetables and fruit.
After 16 weeks of the diet, the group who also ate almonds showed significantly lower LDL ('bad' cholesterol) levels than the other group and had better insulin sensitivity too. Further research is needed, however, as the almond-eating group also reported eating fewer carbohydrates overall so this may have affected results. "Eating nuts could help keep study participants feeling full for longer, which may have affected what else they ate," says registered nutritionist Carina Norris, author of The Food Manual. "I’d recommend eating 25g/1oz as a snack."
First published December 22, 2010