Abstract
Background: Nut consumption has been associated with cardio-metabolic health benefits. However, studies conducted in the Southern Italian population, where adherence to the Mediterranean diet has been reported being relatively high, are rather scarce. The aim of this study was to test the association between consumption of total and specific types of nuts and metabolic status among adults living in Sicily, Southern Italy. Methods: Demographic and dietary characteristics of 2044 adults living in Southern Italy were analyzed. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of the association between nut consumption and metabolic status adjusting for potential confounding factors. Results: The energy-adjusted model revealed that higher nut intake was inversely associated with occurrence of hypertension, type-2 diabetes, and dyslipidemia. However, the association did not remain significant for the latter after adjusting for the main background characteristics, while an inverse association was stably confirmed for hypertension (OR = 0.61, 95% CI: 0.46–0.80 and OR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.26–0.74, respectively) even after adjusting for adherence to the Mediterranean diet. Among individual nut types, most of the associations were null except for higher almond intake, which was inversely associated with occurrence of hypertension (OR = 0.70, 95% CI: 0.49–0.99). Conclusions: Higher nut consumption is associated with overall better metabolic status in individuals living in the Mediterranean area.
Highlights
A significant difference was observed on the level of adherence to the Mediterranean diet, as there was a higher proportion of high nut consumers among those individuals with medium and high adherence to the dietary pattern (Table 1)
While an inverse association between total nut intake and hypertension and Type 2 diabetes has been found, we failed to find a relation between individual type of nut intake and the investigated outcomes with the exception for almond intake, which was inversely associated with occurrence of hypertension
Nut consumption has been generally associated with cardiovascular benefits, but results toward metabolic outcomes are not univocal in the scientific literature: despite acute feeding studies have shown favorable effects on fasting blood glucose [23], no association between nut consumption and the risk of Type 2 diabetes mellitus was observed in meta-analyses of prospective studies [24]
Summary
The result of a pioneering, large, prospective cohort study Study) published in the early 1990s suggested that high consumption of nuts provides protection against coronary heart disease risk [1]. Nut consumption has been associated with cardio-metabolic health benefits. The aim of this study was to test the association between consumption of total and specific types of nuts and metabolic status among adults living in Sicily, Southern Italy. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of the association between nut consumption and metabolic status adjusting for potential confounding factors. Results: The energy-adjusted model revealed that higher nut intake was inversely associated with occurrence of hypertension, type-2 diabetes, and dyslipidemia.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: International journal of environmental research and public health
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
