Nuts for nuts? Studies point to benefits for heart, sperm and stress

10 Nov 2020 --- Nuts are in the spotlight thanks to their nutrition benefits for areas ranging from heart health to sperm function and mental stress relief. A host of recent studies into the dietary advantages of nut consumption come amid a rise in nut product innovations.

According to Innova Market Insights, global F&B launches featuring nuts as an ingredient have seen average annual growth of 8 percent between 2015 and 2019. Being a source of or having high protein levels was a popular health positioning in these launches, with a CAGR of 19 percent.

Almonds experienced double-digit growth (13 percent) in 2019, with 12,206 new products with almonds introduced globally.

“Consumers have been increasingly health conscious in recent years, and the health pandemic this year has placed even more importance on staying healthy. Consumers want to look after their heart and respiratory systems and are willing to reflect that in their food choices,” says Lu Ann Williams, director of innovation at Innova Market Insights.

“New research can help manufacturers and consumers alike to make informed choices and developers can be confident that the ingredients they formulate with can have a positive impact on consumers’ lives.”

Almonds may reduce risk of cardiovascular disease by up to 30 percent.Almond consumers have thinner waistlines
Recent research published in the European Journal of Nutrition found that almond consumers in the UK have lower waist circumference and lower body mass index (BMI) than those who do not consume almonds.

Both BMI and waistline can be risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The researchers used the most recent population data from the UK’s National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) to determine the higher diet quality scores of almond eaters.

The NDNS data included 6,802 adults who completed an estimated food diary for four days. Almond snack consumption was defined as the average intake of whole almonds alone or whole almonds plus the proportion of almond kernels in mixed nut portions.

The findings showed that almond eaters had higher reported intakes of protein, total fat, monounsaturated, omega 3 and omega 6 fats, fiber, folate, vitamin C, vitamin E, potassium magnesium, phosphorus and iron.

Further, they had lower intakes of trans-fatty acids, total carbohydrate, sugar and sodium.

The researchers found that UK almond consumers had lower BMI and waist circumference measurements. BMI was 0.8 kg/m² lower for the whole almonds only group, and waist circumference was 2.1 cm lower.

There were no differences between almond consumers and non-consumers concerning other CVD risk factors.

Almonds can reduce anxiety
King’s College London conducted a six week randomized control, parallel-arm trial, which found that participants who ate almonds showed better heart rate regulation during acute mental stress compared to the control group.

Participants with above-average cardiovascular disease risk consumed a daily snack of almonds or a calorie-matched control snack. This equaled 20 percent of each participant’s daily energy needs.

“This study shows that the simple dietary strategy of swapping almonds for typical snacks may bolster resilience to the adverse cardiovascular effects of mental stress by improving regulation of heart rate,” says Dr. Wendy Hall, co-principal investigator at King’s College London.

“These results are particularly timely given the heightened levels of stress many of us are experiencing, alongside increased snacking, from working at home,” adds Dr. Sarah Berry, King’s College London.

New studies show nut consumption can increase male fertility, reduce disease risk and reduce stress. Reduced disease risk of 30 percent
The same study also shows that almond consumption can improve vascular health and thus may decrease the risk of certain diseases.

Compared to the control group, the almond group had increased endothelium-dependent vasodilation by a 4 percent unit increase, which is a strong predictor of the initiation and progression of the disease atherosclerosis (where fats gradually clog up the arteries).

Cholesterol levels also decreased in the almond group relative to the control group. However, there was no difference between the two groups in liver fat and several other measures.

“Based on existing data on the risk of cardiovascular disease, we predict that replacing typical snacks with almonds in the long term would result in a 30 percent reduction in the adjusted relative risk of a cardiovascular event,” concludes Hall.

Increased fertility for male nut consumers
Meanwhile, separate researchers in Spain have evaluated for the first time the effect of short and middle-term consumption of a mixture of tree nuts (almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts) on sperm DNA methylation patterns in healthy individuals who eat Western-style diets.

The study was conducted in 72 healthy, non-smoking, young participants. The consumption of a mix of nuts for 14 weeks significantly improved the sperm count, viability, motility, and morphology.

According to the researchers, these findings provide the first evidence that adding nuts to a regular Western-style diet impacts sperm DNA methylation in specific regions.

“This work demonstrates that there are some sensitive regions of the sperm epigenome that respond to diet, which can result in changes in sperm and in its ability to fertilize,” Albert Salas-Huetos, the author of the study, tells NutritionInsight.

“This is very important in the fertility process because spermatogenesis (the process by which the sperm cells are created) and embryogenesis (the process by which the embryo is created) are very regulated processes that need precise control of the gene expression.”

By Louis Gore-Langton

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