This study, conducted by the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center in
Derby, explored the health effects of daily walnut consumption by a
group of adults at risk for developing diabetes or heart disease.
These results are consistent with findings
of a prior study conducted by the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research
Center team, which found a significant improvement in blood vessel
function among people with diabetes who consumed two ounces of walnuts
per day for eight weeks.
“Our work to date has shown clear benefits of adding walnuts to the diet for people with, and at risk, for diabetes,” said Dr. David L. Katz, director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center,
and principal investigator of the study.
“To some extent, this is
because walnuts are concentrated in a variety of health-promoting
nutrients, including omega-3 fat. The results are also probably due to
the fact that eating more walnuts, which tend to help us feel and stay
full, means eating less of other, less nutritious foods - so there are
benefits both from what is added to the diet, and what is bumped out. We
now move on to the next question: Do walnuts improve overall diet
quality, and help with weight control, for healthy adults? I think so-
but the study we are now running will tell us for sure.”
The adults who took part in the study were
overweight, had an average age of 57 years, and had at least one of
several conditions (high blood pressure, high blood glucose, high
triglycerides, or low HDL cholesterol) that can raise the risk for
diabetes or cardiovascular disease. Diabetes, in turn, can raise the
risk for cardiovascular disease.
Study participants were asked to
practice their usual eating habits for one eight-week period called the
control phase.
Participants were then instructed to continue their
usual eating habits for another eight-week period called the walnut
phase, with one exception - eating two ounces of walnuts per day while
adjusting for the extra calories from the walnuts so their daily calorie
intake would be consistent with the control phase. The researchers
found that after eight weeks of daily walnut intake, the study
participants’ blood vessel function improved significantly compared to
the control phase, their body weight and waist circumference remained
stable, and they experienced a beneficial trend in reduction of systolic
blood pressure (the upper number in a blood pressure reading), however
that did not quite reach statistical significance.
The study results provide evidence that walnuts can play a role in protecting against heart disease in at-risk individuals.
The study was funded by the California Walnut Commission.
The researchers are conducting another study to see if the
beneficial health effects of consuming walnuts hold true for a six-month
time period for adults who are at risk of developing diabetes.
About the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center
The Yale-Griffin Prevention Research
Center was established in 1998 through funding from the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. The goal of the PRC is to develop
innovative approaches to health promotion and disease prevention that
will directly benefit the public's health, first locally, and then
nationally. For information, visit www.yalegriffinprc.org.
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