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Are nuts fattening?

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Results of the INC Symposium Nuts and Cardiovascular Health · Barcelona (Spain), 4 March 2010

As the results of the INC Symposium “Nuts and Cardiovascular Health” held on March 4th, 2010, in Barcelona, Spain, within the frame of the 2nd Congress of the Federation of Societies of Nutrition, Food and Dietetics (FESNAD), the moderators and guest speakers of the session concluded a declaration on the benefits of consumption of nuts on cardiovascular health.

The benefits of nuts on cardiovascular health

1. Nuts are a whole food that has been consumed by humans throughout history.

2. Nuts are energy-dense foods, rich in total fat and unsaturated fatty acids, fiber, minerals, and bioactive phytochemicals with antioxidant and antiinflammatory properties. In nuts, the whole is greater than the parts.

3. Nuts are among the whole foods with a more impressive body of scientific evidence supporting beneficial effects on cardiovascular and other health outcomes.

4. Large prospective studies have consistently associated frequent nut consumption with a reduced incidence of fatal and non fatal coronary heart disease.

5. Incorporating all types of nuts into the diet has a consistent cholesterol lowering effect that is dose related and more pronounced in persons with higher baseline cholesterol or lower body mass index.

6. Nut consumption decreases triglyceride levels in persons with hipertriglyceridemia.

7. Nuts reduce the postprandial glycaemic response when consumed with high-glycaemic index carbohydrate foods in both normoglycaemic subjects and type 2 diabetic patients.

8. The reduction in coronary heart disease associated with nut consumption depends on mechanisms other than cholesterol lowering, as nuts have beneficial effects on insulin sensitivity, oxidative and inflammatory processes, and vascular reactivity.

9. Both epidemiological and clinical studies have shown that frequent nut intake is not associated with weight gain or worsening diabetes control.

10. The daily inclusion of a handful of nuts in the usual diet can be of benefit for healthy individuals and those with hypercholesterolemia and type 2 diabetes.

Prof. Jordi Salas-Salvadó - University Rovira i Virgili (Spain)
Dr. Emilio Ros - Lipids Unit, Barcelona Hospital Clinic (Spain)
Prof. Miguel A. Martínez-González - University of Navarra (Spain)
Dr. Joan Sabaté - Loma Linda University (USA)
Prof. Linda C. Tapsell - University of Wollongong (Australia)