Nuts Lower CVD Risk

BOSTON—A study in the Journal of Nutrition found frequent nut and peanut butter consumption is associated with a significantly lower cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in women with type 2 diabetes (2009;139(7):1333-38). For the primary analysis, there were 6,309 women with type 2 diabetes who completed a validated questionnaire every 2 to 4 years between 1980 and 2002, and were without CVD or cancer at study entry. Major CVD events included incident myocardial infarction (MI), revascularization and stroke. During 54,656 person-years of follow-up, there were 452 CVD events (including MI and revascularization) and 182 incident stroke cases. Frequent nut and peanut butter consumption was inversely associated with total CVD risk in age-adjusted analyses. After adjustment for conventional CVD risk factors, consumption of at least five servings/week of nuts or peanut butter [serving size, 28 g (1 ounce) for nuts and 16 g (1 tablespoon) for peanut butter] was significantly associated with a lower risk of CVD. When researchers evaluated plasma lipid and inflammatory biomarkers, increasing nut consumption was significantly associated with a more favorable plasma lipid profile, including lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, non-high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, total cholesterol and apolipoprotein-B-100 concentrations. However, a significant association for HDL cholesterol and inflammatory markers was not observed.