Almonds have cholestero...( DALLAS Aug. 20 Almonds significantly ...),Health

Canadian researchers conducted the study, funded by The Almond Board of California and the Canadian government, to determine whether almonds can help reduce heart disease risk by Lowering high cholesterol and at what consumption level.

Some previous research has suggested that nut consumption reduces the risk of coronary heart disease. Because previous research has suggested that eating more nuts increases calories, nuts generally are not recommended for people who need to restrict calories. Twenty-seven high cholesterol patients (15 men and 12 postmenopausal women, average age 64) completed the three-phase study. Their average total cholesterol level was 260 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) at baseline.

Three one-month diets were undertaken. For one month each participant ate a full dose of almonds (average 74 grams), which represented a little less that one quarter of their total daily caloric intake. For one month they took a half dose of almonds (average 37 grams) described as a "handful" of almonds. In the last month, they ate a low-saturated fat, whole-wheat muffin as a daily snack.

The muffin snack served as the control diet because it had about the same amount of calories, protein and saturated and polyunsaturated fats, explains lead author David J.A. Jenkins, M.D., director at the Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Center, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto. The only difference was that the monounsaturated fat was swapped for the starch in the muffin, he says. Jenkins is also Canada Research Chair in Nutrition and Metabolism at the University of Toronto.

Researchers measured cholesterol levels, blood pressure and weight in the subjects. They found that patients reduced low-density lip
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Contact: Carole Bullock
carole.bullock@heart.org
214-706-1279
American Heart Association
19-Aug-2002