Consumption of Brazil nuts with high selenium levels increased inflammation biomarkers in obese women: A randomized controlled trial.
OBJECTIVE: Increased inflammatory response is an important factor in the pathophysiology of obesity. The mineral selenium (Se), of which one of the main food sources is the Brazil nut, has important antioxidant and anti-inflammatory functions through the action of selenoproteins. Thus, the evaluation of the influence of this micronutrient in this context is of great relevance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of Brazil nut intake with high Se concentrations on inflammatory biomarkers and its relation to Se status in obese women. METHODS: A randomized controlled clinical trial was carried out with 55 women recruited at Clinical Hospital in São Paulo, Brazil. Patients were randomly assigned to either the Brazil nut group (BN) or the control group (CO) and followed up for 2 mo. The BN group consumed 1 unit/d of Brazil nuts (∼ 1261 μg/Se); the CO group did not receive any intervention. At baseline and after 2 mo, analysis of biochemical parameters related to Se status, oxidative stress, and inflammatory biomarkers were performed. RESULTS: At baseline, both groups did not present Se deficiency. In the BN group, a significant increase (P < 0.05) in all Se biomarkers and in gene expression of several proinflammatory parameters (interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, and Toll-like receptors 2 and 4) were observed after the intervention period. No changes were observed for the CO group. CONCLUSION: Although there were no changes in plasma inflammatory biomarkers levels, a significant increase in gene expression may be an indication of a proinflammatory stimulus in obesity, induced by the consumption of Brazil nuts with high Se levels.
A Hazelnut-Enriched Diet Modulates Oxidative Stress and Inflammation Gene Expression without Weight Gain.
INTRODUCTION: Inflammation is associated with obesity condition and plays a pivotal role in the onset and progression of many chronic diseases. Among several nutraceutical foods, hazelnuts (Corylus avellana L.) are considered an excellent anti-inflammatory and hypolipidemic food being the second richest source of monounsaturated fatty acids among nuts and because they are rich in vitamins, minerals, and phenolic compounds. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective pilot clinical trial on 24 healthy volunteers who consumed daily, as a snack, 40 g of hazelnuts (261.99 kcal/1096.17 kJ) for six weeks was conducted. Anthropometric measurements, body composition analysis, and nutrigenomic analysis on 12 anti-inflammatory and antioxidant genes were evaluated at baseline (T0) and after hazelnut intervention (T1). RESULTS: No significant changes were detected on body composition analysis after hazelnut consumption. Conversely, significant upregulation was detected for SOD1 (2-ΔΔCt = 2.42), CAT (2-ΔΔCt = 2.41), MIF (2-ΔΔCt = 4.12), PPARγ (2-ΔΔCt = 5.89), VDR (2-ΔΔCt = 3.61), MTHFR (2-ΔΔCt = 2.40), and ACE (2-ΔΔCt = 2.16) at the end of the study. CONCLUSIONS: According to emerging evidences, hazelnut consumption does not lead to weight gain probably due to the improvement of the body's antioxidant capacity by the upregulation of genes implied in oxidant reactions and inflammation.
Investigating the Prevalence of Sleep Disorder and the Impact of Sweet Almond on the Quality of Sleep in Students of Tehran, Iran.
BACKGROUND: Insomnia is an important problem in medical sciences students and has implications for their educational progress. The current study aimed to estimate the prevalence of sleep disorders and investigating the impact of sweet almond on quality of sleep in students of the Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran who live in dormitories. METHODS: This is a before-after study conducted in 2017. At first, using the ISI questionnaire prevalence of sleep disorders was determined. Sweet almond was the study intervention. Each day, 10 almonds were given to 446 students for 14 d. At the end of the second week, again ISI questionnaire was filled. SPSS was used to analyze data. The McNemar, Wilcoxson Signed Ranks, and Repeated Measures tests were used. RESULTS: Out of 442 participants, 217 (49.1%) were female. Before intervention, 343 (77.6%) had insomnia and 99 (22.4%) had normal sleep. After intervention, 306 (69.2%) had insomnia and 136 (30.8%) had normal sleep. Having sweet almond for two weeks is associated with reducing insomnia (P<0.05). Investigating the almond impact in different categories also showed that it has a reducing impact on severe, mild, weak and normal sleep categories (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Sweet almond has impacts on quality of sleep of those students of the TUMS that are living in dormitories. Intervention programs to improve quality of sleep are necessary and with regard to the high prevalence of insomnia, students must be protected, guided and consulted.
Antidiabetic effects of water-soluble Korean pine nut protein on type 2 diabetic mice.
Korean pine nut protein (PNP) has a variety of biological activities, which are good for human health, but its ability to preventing diabetes has not been reported. This study evaluated the effects of water-soluble proteins of Korean pine nut obtained from a dilute alkali extract on carbohydrate metabolism of type 2 diabetic mice on a model of diabetes induced using a high fat diet combined with streptozotocin. The results showed that the hypoglycemic effect of PNP at a middle dose was the most significant, which was 38.7% lower than that of control. The extract significantly improved the oral glucose tolerance and liver indexes, increased the activity of the carbohydrate metabolism enzymes, and regulated the expression of the function of key genes for carbohydrate metabolism. It had a positive effect on both insulin resistance and glycolytic/gluconeogenesis signaling. In conclusion, PNP can regulate fasting blood glucose, improve insulin resistance, correct the glucose metabolism disorder in diabetic mice, and have a positive regulatory role. As the functional food, it has the potential to be beneficial in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus as a new hypoglycemic functional food.
Nut consumption and incidence of cardiovascular diseases and cardiovascular disease mortality: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.
CONTEXT: Previous meta-analyses evaluating the association between nut consumption and the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) had substantial methodological limitations and lacked recently published large prospective studies; hence, making an updated meta-analysis highly desirable. OBJECTIVE: To update the clinical guidelines for nutrition therapy in relation to the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies was conducted using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system to summarize the evidence of the association between total nuts, specific types of nuts, and the incidence of, and mortality from, CVD outcomes. DATA SOURCES: Relevant articles were identified by searching the PubMed and Cochrane databases. DATA EXTRACTION: Two independent researchers screened the articles to identify those that met the inclusion criteria. DATA ANALYSIS: The inverse variance method with fixed-effect or random-effects models was used to pool data across studies (expressed as risk ratio [RR] and 95% confidence interval [CI]). Heterogeneity was tested and quantified using the Cochrane Q test and I2-statistic, respectively. The GRADE system was used to assess the quality of the evidence. RESULTS: Nineteen studies were included in the analyses. The results revealed an inverse association between total nut consumption (comparing highest vs lowest categories) and CVD incidence (RR, 0.85; 95%CI, 0.800.91; I2, 0%), CVD mortality (RR, 0.77; 95%CI, 0.72-0.82; I2, 3%), coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence (RR, 0.82; 95%CI, 0.69-0.96; I2, 74%), CHD mortality (RR, 0.76; 95%CI, 0.67-0.86; I2, 46%), stroke mortality (RR, 0.83; 95%CI, 0.75-0.93; I2, 0%), and atrial fibrillation (RR, 0.85; 95%CI, 0.73-0.99; I2, 0%). No association was observed with stroke incidence and heart failure. The certainty of the evidence ranged from moderate to very low. CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review and meta-analysis revealed a beneficial role of nut consumption in reducing the incidence of, and mortality from, different CVD outcomes.
Determination of the protein quality of almonds (Prunus dulcis L.) as assessed by in vitro and in vivo methodologies.
Almonds (Prunus dulcis), such as all nuts, are positioned within the protein foods grouping within the current U.S. Dietary Guidelines. The ability to make claims related to the protein content of almonds, within the United States, requires substantiation via the use of the Protein Digestibility‐Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS). The present study was designed to provide current estimates of PDCAAS, using both in vivo and in vitro assays, of key almond varietals from the 2017 California harvest. Additionally, historical protein and amino acid composition data on 73 separate analyses, performed from 2000 to 2014, were analyzed. Amino acid analysis confirmed lysine as the first‐limiting amino acid, generating amino acid scores of 0.53, 0.52, 0.49, and 0.56 for Butte, Independence, Monterey, and Nonpareil varietals, respectively. True fecal protein digestibility coefficients ranged from 85.7% to 89.9% yielding PDCAAS values of 44.3–47.8, being highest for Nonpareil. Similar, albeit lower, results were obtained from the in vitro assessment protocol. Analysis of the historical data again positioned lysine as the limiting amino acid and yielded information on the natural variability present within the protein and amino acid profiles of almonds. Comparison of the 2017 AA profile, averaged across almond varietals, to the historical data provided strong evidence of persistence of amino acid composition and indices of protein quality over time.
The INC Present at the China International Tree Nuts Conference
The International Convention and Exhibition Center of Zhengzhou hosted seminars and panels on production, trade and consumption of almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pistachios, walnuts and dried fruits –namely cranberries and raisins. Delegates from over 25 countries networked, learnt and shared their views on the global market and the tariff situation.
INC Chairman, Mr. Michael Waring took part in the opening ceremony and presented an overview of the core activities of the INC, followed by Mr. Pino Calcagni, who presented a global statistical review of the tree nut industry, highlighting production, trade and consumption, with special focus on China, and the state of affairs regarding tariffs.
INC Chairman, Mr. Michael Waring took part in the opening ceremony and presented an overview of the core activities of the INC, followed by Mr. Pino Calcagni, who presented a global statistical review of the tree nut industry, highlighting production, trade and consumption, with special focus on China, and the state of affairs regarding tariffs.
The INC Launches Global Cashew Council’s Website
To distinguish the different parts, the site has been divided into two color schemes: coral pink for content that is considered interesting for all users and golden brown to represent the health and industry professionals.
The website includes recipes, nutritional information and curious information about cashews. The health professionals section includes scientific studies related to cashews, while the industry content contains four distinct sections: Cashew Information, Processing, Standards, Grades & Forms and Scientific Studies.
Cashews.org also contains news, events and other general resources.
Visit the website here.
The INC Launches Global Cashew Council’s Website
To distinguish the different parts, the site has been divided into two color schemes: coral pink for content that is considered interesting for all users and golden brown to represent the health and industry professionals.
The website includes recipes, nutritional information and curious information about cashews. The health professionals section includes scientific studies related to cashews, while the industry content contains four distinct sections: Cashew Information, Processing, Standards, Grades & Forms and Scientific Studies.
Cashews.org also contains news, events and other general resources.
Visit the website here.
The INC Present at the China International Tree Nuts Conference
The International Convention and Exhibition Center of Zhengzhou hosted seminars and panels on production, trade and consumption of almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pistachios, walnuts and dried fruits –namely cranberries and raisins. Delegates from over 25 countries networked, learnt and shared their views on the global market and the tariff situation.
INC Chairman, Mr. Michael Waring took part in the opening ceremony and presented an overview of the core activities of the INC, followed by Mr. Pino Calcagni, who presented a global statistical review of the tree nut industry, highlighting production, trade and consumption, with special focus on China, and the state of affairs regarding tariffs.
INC Chairman, Mr. Michael Waring took part in the opening ceremony and presented an overview of the core activities of the INC, followed by Mr. Pino Calcagni, who presented a global statistical review of the tree nut industry, highlighting production, trade and consumption, with special focus on China, and the state of affairs regarding tariffs.