Acute effect of a beverage containing Brazil and cashew nuts on oxidative stress, lipemia, and blood pressure of women with cardiometabolic risk (Brazilian Nuts Study): a randomized clinical trial.

Abstract

Nuts are important sources of antioxidants that combat oxidative stress and improve lipid profile as well as vascular function. However, the intake of typical Brazilian nuts and its acute effect on cardiovascular health needs to be better understood. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the acute effect of a beverage containing cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) and Brazil nuts (Bertholletia excelsa H.B.K.) on postprandial oxidative stress, lipemia, and blood pressure of adult women aged 20 to 55 years with cardiometabolic risk. This was an acute, randomized, parallel arm, controlled clinical trial. The participants received either a beverage containing nuts (30g Brazil nuts + 15g cashew nuts) or a beverage without nuts with similar macronutrient composition. Oxidative stress markers and lipid profiles were evaluated at fasting and 4 h after beverage consumption. Blood pressure was measured during fasting and after beverage intake (1, 2, 3, and 4h). In the postprandial state, there was a greater reduction in malondialdehyde levels in the intervention group compared to the control group (-12.3±0.59vs. -10.7±0.43µmol/mL; p<0.05), which was positively correlated with the concentrations of TG (r=0.399; p<0.05), VLDL (r=0.399; p<0.05), TG/HDL (r=0.380; p<0.05), and blood pressure (iAUC SBP r=0.391; p<0.05, iAUC DBP r=0.409; p<0.05). The remaining oxidative stress markers showed similar postprandial changes between groups. In women with cardiometabolic risk, a beverage containing Brazilian nuts promoted a significant acute reduction on postprandial malondialdehyde levels. The study was registered in the Brazilian Clinical Trials Registry-ReBEC (protocol: RBR-3ntxrm).