Abstract
Background: Consumption of nuts may lower the risk of cardiovascular disease by reducing lipid profile, and high weight and glucose levels.
Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of some nuts, on metabolic parameters of cardiovascular disease.
Material and Methods: In a completely randomized design, 46 patients (45.65% male, 54.35% female) with mean age of 46.50 10.67 were recruited from Al -Noor Hospital and private clinics. Subjects were assigned randomly into 3 groups to receive the experimental diet 60 g/d of; almonds, pistachios or a mixture of both for 12 weeks.
Results: Significant results among the three treatments were obtained. Total cholesterol (P = 0.004, 0.049, 0.044), LDL-c (P = 0.025, 0.015, 0.001), Triglyceride (P = 0.018, 0.027, 0.049), BMI (p=0.05, 0.009, 0.01) waist circumference (P = 0.001, 0.05, 0.006), Hip circumference (P = 0.021, 0.036, 0.015), weight (P = 0.053, 0.073, 0.032). Improvement of TC: HDL (10.87%, 13.04%, 10.64%,) and LDL:HDL (13.79%, 12.16%, 14.29%) for almond, pistachios and mixture respectively. Glucose and HDL-c levels did not change significantly among the groups. No significant differences in measurements within groups were obtained.
Conclusions: The incorporation of nuts into the diet of heart disease patients markedly improved lipid profile and anthropometric measurements.