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Home » Walnuts reduce blood fats
The facts:
- More than 300 people participating in 13 studies ate walnut-enriched diets (10–24% of total calories) or walnut-free diets for up to 6 months to estimate any effects of the nut on blood fats.
- Walnut-enriched diets reduced total cholesterol and harmful LDL levels but did not affect beneficial HDL cholesterol levels.
- Bigger trials are needed to address the effects of walnuts on cardiovascular risk and bodyweight.
Dr Shaun Holt: This meta-analysis “added together” the results of 13 studies that have looked at the effects of walnut-enriched diets on blood cholesterol levels and the results were very impressive: having walnuts in the diet resulted in a significantly greater decrease in total cholesterol and in LDL-cholesterol concentrations. According to the researchers, the study also found good evidence that walnuts “…provided significant benefits for certain antioxidant capacity and
inflammatory markers and had no adverse effects on body weight”. The studies lasted between four and 24 weeks and walnuts provided between 10 and 24 per cent of total calories.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.2009.27457
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