Effect of nuts on coronary heart disease and cancer risk in type 2 diabetes (825.8)

Abstract

Background: Diabetes increases the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) by 2‐4 fold, and the risk of the majority of cancers by 1.2‐2‐fold, where CHD and cancer are two of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Dietary factors have long been implicated in both cancer and CHD, where diet and lifestyle changes are said to reduce risk by 10‐80%. Nuts are one dietary factor that have been associated with reduced CHD and cancer risk in epidemiological studies.Objective: To determine the effect of nut consumption on cancer cell proliferation and its association with oxidative damage.Methods: A 12 week randomized controlled trial was completed by 100 participants with type 2 diabetes consuming one of 3 isocaloric supplemental diets; 1) full‐dose nut diet (~75 g mixed nuts per day), 2) half‐dose nut diet, or 3) control diet, incorporated into a background NCEP Step 2 diet. In vitro prostate cancer cell (LNCaP) proliferation, used as a marker of cancer risk, and markers of oxidative damage for CHD risk were analyzed using available fasting blood obtained at weeks 0 and 12.Results: No treatment differences were observed. However, across treatments, when data were pooled, nut consumption was associated with increased protein thiols (P=0.001) and decreased LNCaP proliferation (P=0.01). Conjugated dienes were positively correlated with LNCaP proliferation (R=0.22, P=0.03).Conclusion: Nut consumption has been associated with reduced CHD risk, though more studies may be required to elucidate the mechanism for CHD reduction, as well as the effect on cancer risk.Grant Funding Source: Supported by the Canadian Foundation for Dietetic Research (CFDR)