Could a handful of almonds a day keep the doctor away? Original paper

Almonds are a relatively rich source of unsaturated fat, vitamin E, magnesium, fiber, antioxidants, and other bioactive compounds, which have been associated with positive effects on human health. Therefore, interventions in which participants eat almonds on a daily basis may improve cardiometabolic health.

This meta-analysis of 26 randomized controlled trials examined the effects of almond consumption on cardiometabolic risk factors in 1,750 participants. The populations studied were participants with overweight or obesity (6 studies), type 2 diabetes (6 studies), dyslipidemia (5 studies), cardiovascular disease (4 studies), or chronic kidney disease (1 study), and individuals without known health conditions (4 studies). The dosage of almonds ranged from 5 to 85 grams per day, and the duration of the intervention ranged from 4 to 20 weeks.

The primary outcomes were markers of glycemic control (fasting blood glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR, C-peptide, and HbA1c). The secondary outcomes were blood lipids, blood pressure, liver enzymes (ALT, AST, and GGT), markers of inflammation (interleukin 6, TNF-α, C-reactive protein, intracellular adhesion molecule, and vascular adhesion molecule), and homocysteine.

Almond consumption increased C-peptide levels to a large degree, but the finding was not statistically significant and only 3 trials were included in the analysis. Almond consumption did not affect other markers of glycemic control.

Almond consumption decreased total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, non-HDL cholesterol, and very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, each to a small degree. However, there was no effect on apolipoprotein B levels. Almond consumption also decreased diastolic blood pressure to a trivial degree. Almond consumption did not affect any other outcomes in the main analyses.

In the subgroup analyses, almond consumption decreased levels of interleukin 6 in healthy participants and in trials that featured an almond dosage of 50 grams or more per day.