Will some nuts help lower cholesterol ?

[Seeyamate]

I wonder to what extent, if at all, can I enhance my lipid
profile by adding nuts to my diet ? If nuts are helpful are
they all equally helpful ? Of the three nuts : almonds ,
walnuts and cashew nuts is one better than the others for
lowering cholesterol and triglycerides ? Equally important is
any one of them a no- no and to be avoided given that I am
trying to maintain and indeed improve my lipid profile ? Good
health to all , Tom

[Quentin Gr]

This post not CC'd by email On Mon, 9 Sep 2002 18:57:11 +0800,
"seeyamate" <seeyamate@ozemail.com.au> wrote:

>I wonder to what extent, if at all, can I enhance my lipid
>profile by adding nuts to my diet ?

Adding nuts ... that is a hard question, Tom.

Adding food to ones diet doesn't usually improve lipid
profile. However if the intent of your question is to find out
if replacing some calories somewhere in your diet with nuts
then the answer is almost certainly yes.

The mainstream view seems to be that replacing some carbs with
an isocaloric amount of cis-monounsaturated fatty acid
improves the lipid profile especially by lowering
triglycerides but also by raising HDL slightly.

>If nuts are helpful are they all equally helpful ? Of the
>three nuts : almonds , walnuts and cashew nuts is one better
>than the others for lowering cholesterol and triglycerides ?

The differences mostly come down to practical considerations.

Almonds are very stable nuts not requiring refrigeration. They
are also high in arginine, an amino acid that is a precursor
for traces of nitric oxide which relaxes heart muscle. The
heart disease issues isn't all about blood lipids. Almonds are
good sources of tocopherols, one branch of the Vit E family.

Walnuts need keeping in the deep freeze or refrigerator after
drying and shelling. The balance of omega-3 to omega-6 in
walnuts varies markedly with variety. Walnuts outperform olive
oil in lowering cholesterol in Mediterranean style diets.

Cashews have relatively high amounts of omega-6
polyunsaturated fatty acids. They aren't my choice for a
staple item though I do sometimes eat them.

As far as I know, no one has done a head to head study of
different nuts in the diet. Most research on food is done by
industry groups and they are keen to test their nuts
isocalorically or even ad libertum against carbs. For that
reason it is IMHO difficult to know whether any difference
in benefits is due to other factors in the study or the
variety of nuts.

>Equally important is any one of them a no- no and to be
>avoided given that

Avoid rancid nuts.

Brazil nuts provide way more selenium than other nuts. The
amounts however differ by as much as an order of magnitude.
One brazil nut per day is likely to prove sufficient selenium
for an adult. It is easy to push levels above top lab normal.

>I am trying to maintain and indeed improve my lipid profile ?
>Good health to all , Tom

Best wishes,

--
Quentin Grady ^ ^ / New Zealand, >#,#< [ / \ /\ "... and the
blind dog was leading."

http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/quentin