Daily consumption of a handful of Macadamia nuts for five weeks helped individuals with elevated cholesterol to significantly improve their blood lipid and cholesterol profile. These findings support further the previously reported heart-healthy effects of nuts such as walnuts or almonds.
Researchers from Penn State University, USA, and the University of Guelph, Canada, recruited twenty-five subjects (15 female, 10 male) with elevated serum cholesterol into a study comparing an average American diet (AAD) with a similar diet modified to contain 42.5 grams of Macadamia nuts. Overall energy and fat content was the same in both diets. Subjects received each diet for a period of five weeks and had blood lipids and cholesterol measured at baseline and after each diet period.
Serum concentrations of total and LDL (bad) cholesterol following the Macadamia diet were significantly lower (by ~10%) than after AAD. Additionally, despite a reduction in HDL (good) cholesterol, ratios of HDL cholesterol to total and LDL cholesterol improved, whereas serum triglycerides remained unchanged.
Elevated LDL cholesterol and high ratios of total or LDL cholesterol to HDL cholesterol increase the risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Previous epidemiological and clinical evidence indicated that tree nuts such as almonds or walnuts favourably affect blood lipids and cholesterol. The benefit is most likely derived from the high unsaturated fatty acid content of nuts paralleled by low levels of saturated fatty acids.
By incorporating a handful of nuts in their daily diet, people with mild hypercholesterolaemia (elevated blood cholesterol) may reduce their cardiovascular risk profile and move towards a heart-healthy diet.
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