More reasons to go nuts for heart disease

A paper just published in the Archives of Internal Medicine analyzes the evidence from 25 intervention trials on the effect of eating nuts on blood lipid levels and heart disease. The authors begin by noting:

"Epidemiological studies have consistently associated nut consumption with reduced risk for coronary heart disease...The objectives of this study were to estimate the effects of nut consumption on blood lipid levels and to examine whether different factors modify the effects."

They pooled the data from 25 trials in 7 countries for cholesterol, LDL, ratio of LDL to HDL, and triglycerides. Improvements were documented in all of these factors. The data also showed that:

"The effects of nut consumption were dose related, and different types of nuts had similar effects on blood lipid levels...the lipid-lowering effects of nut consumption were greatest among subjects with high baseline LDL-C and with low body mass index and among those consuming Western diets."

In other words, eating more nuts improved the lipid-lowering effect. Hence their conclusion:

"Nut consumption improves blood lipid levels in a dose-related manner, particularly among subjects with higher LDL-C or with lower BMI."