May 5, 2009 – A handful of nuts a day and two servings of fatty fish a week would lower bad cholesterol and blood triglycerides, a California study suggests1.
Researchers compared the effect of three diets on different measures of blood lipids: a diet consisting of 42.5 g of walnuts per day (3 tbsp, chopped), a diet consisting of 113 g of salmon2 twice a week and a control diet containing no nuts or fish. Each diet was followed for four weeks by 25 adults aged 23 to 64 with normal or slightly elevated fat levels.
Participants who followed the nut diet saw their total cholesterol drop by 5.4% and bad cholesterol (LDL), by 9.3%, compared to those who followed the control diet. The nuts group also performed better in this regard than the fish group.
The fish diet was more successful in lowering blood triglycerides (11.4%) and increasing good cholesterol (HDL) (4%) than the other two diets.
“The interest of this study is that it includes portions of nuts and fish that are easily applicable to everyday life and which give results in a short time,” says Hélène Jacques, professor of nutrition at Laval University. . “Research in this area has shown that a 1% drop in LDL cholesterol in the blood decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease by 2%. In just four weeks, the diet made up of nuts would lower this risk by nearly 18%, ”explains Hélène Jacques.
Watch out for excess calories
“This study shows that there is no one miracle food, but a combination of healthy foods that can contribute to heart health,” says Stéphanie Côté, nutritionist and coordinator for the Extenso group. “But beware,” she adds, “it is not enough to add nuts to your daily diet to achieve a beneficial effect. Nuts should replace a food high in bad fat, otherwise you risk ending up with too many calories. “
The two nutritionists believe that it would be interesting to know the effect of a diet combining nuts and fish over a longer period. Nevertheless, this study is one more point in favor of omega-3 from plants which, according to them, have as much interest as those from marine sources.
Emmanuelle Bergeron – PasseportSanté.net
1. Rajaram S, Haddad EH, et al. Walnuts and fatty fish influence different serum lipid fractions in normal to mildly hyperlipidemic individuals: a randomized controlled study, Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 May; 89 (5): 1657S-1663S.
2. This study was funded in part by the California Walnut Commission, an organization that promotes research on nuts.
3. The quantities of nuts and fish chosen for this study represent the doses recommended by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the American Heart Association (AHA).
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