Archive

Research Area: Consumption

Long-term consumption of nuts (including peanuts, peanut butter, walnuts, and other nuts) in relation to risk of frailty in older women: evidence from a cohort study.

Wang, R., M.T. Hannan, M. Wang, A.W. Schwartz, E. Lopez-Garcia, F. Grodstein, 2023. Long-term consumption of nuts (including peanuts, peanut butter, walnuts, and other nuts) in relation to risk of frailty in older women: evidence from a cohort study. J. Nutr. 153(3): 820–827.

Background: Adherence to a healthy diet is inversely associated with frailty. However, the relationship between nuts, a key food group of Mediterranean diet, and frailty is unclear. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the association between nut consumption and frailty in an aging female population. Methods: This population-based observational study included nonfrail women (60 y old) in the NHS from 11 states of the United States.

Outcome was incident frailty, defined as having 3 of the FRAIL components (fatigue, lower strength, reduced aerobic capacity, multiple chronic conditions, and significant weight loss) and assessed every 4 y from 1992 to 2016. From 1990 to 2014, FFQs were used to assess the intakes of peanuts, peanut butter, walnuts (added in 1998), and other nuts at 4-y intervals. Exposure was total nut consumption, calculated as the sum of intakes of peanuts, peanut butter, walnuts, and other nuts and categorized into <1 serving/mo, 1–3 servings/mo, 1 serving/wk, 2 4 servings/wk, and 5 servings/wk. The relations of intakes of peanuts, peanut butter, and walnuts with frailty were also investigated separately. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the associations between nut consumption and frailty after adjusting for age, smoking, BMI, EI, diet quality, and medication use. Results: Among 71,704 participants, 14,195 incident frailty cases occurred over 1,165,290 person-years. The adjusted HR (95% CI) for consuming 5 servings/wk of nuts was 0.80 (0.73, 0.87), as compared with <1 serving/mo. Higher intakes of peanuts and walnuts, but not peanut butter, were also inversely associated with frailty. Conclusions: This large prospective cohort study showed a strong and consistent inverse association between regular nut consumption and incident frailty. This suggests that nut consumption should be further tested as a convenient public health intervention for the preservation of health and well-being in older adults.

Adding walnuts to the usual diet can improve diet quality in the United States: diet modeling study based on NHANES 2015–2018.

Spence, L.A., B. Henschel, R. Li, C.D. Tekwe, K. Thiagarajah, 2023. Adding walnuts to the usual diet can improve diet quality in the United States: diet modeling study based on NHANES 2015–2018. Nutrients. 15(2):258. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15020258

Background: The under-consumption of calcium, potassium, fiber, and vitamin D is considered a U.S. public health concern. Shifts in eating patterns that increase the consumption of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts/seeds, and dairy products can help achieve the recommended intakes of these nutrients, leading to healthier diets. Objective: We assessed the impact of adding 1 ounce (28.35 g) of walnuts to usual diets on diet quality and nutrients of concern, including magnesium, fiber, and potassium. Methods: We utilized 24 h dietary recalls obtained from the What We Eat in America, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and modeled the addition of 1 ounce (28.35 g) of walnuts to the usual diets of no-nut consumers. No-nut consumers aged ≥4 years (n = 7757) from the 2015–2018 NHANES study were included. Population percentages with intakes below the estimated average requirement (EAR) values for calcium, magnesium, folate, and vitamin E and above the adequate intake (AI) values for potassium and fiber were examined. Diet quality was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015). The National Cancer Institute method was used to estimate the usual and modeled intakes. Significant differences between usual (current) and modeled intakes were determined using non-overlapping 95% confidence intervals. All analyses included sample weights to account for the NHANES survey design. Results: Adding 1 ounce (28.35 g) of walnuts to the usual diet resulted in significant reductions in the percentages of adults with intakes below the EAR for magnesium and folate (69.6% vs. 52.0%; 49.2% vs. 40.6%, respectively), and increased the percentage of adults above the AI for potassium (22.8% vs. 26.5%). A similar trend was observed among children (4–18 years). HEI scores improved significantly from 49.1 (95% CI: 48.0–50.4) to 58.5 (95% CI: 57.5–59.6) in children and from 52.4 (95% CI: 51.0–53.8) to 59.2 (95% CI: 58.0–60.5) in adults. Conclusions: Adding 1 ounce (28.35 g) of walnuts to the usual diet of no-nut consumers improved the diet quality and adequacy of some under-consumed nutrients.

Nut consumption and effects on chronic kidney disease and mortality in the United States.

Wang, K., D. Qian, Y. Hu, Y. Cheng, S. Ge, Y. Yao, 2022. Nut consumption and effects on chronic kidney disease and mortality in the United States. Am. J. Nephrol. 53(6):503–512. https://doi.org/10.1159/000524382

Background: Nuts have been found to have beneficial effects on some diseases, including cardiovascular disease and cancer, in several studies. However, there are few studies to show the effects of nuts on chronic kidney disease (CKD). Thus, we conducted this study to examine the association between the consumption frequency of nuts and the prevalence and mortality of CKD among adults in the USA. Methods: We analyzed data from 6,072 individuals (aged ≥20 years) who participated in the NHANES 2003-2006 following the scheduled procedure. Data on death were provided by the CDC. A logistic regression model was used to evaluate the association between nut consumption frequency and the prevalence of CKD. A Cox proportional hazards regression model was performed to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between nut consumption frequency and all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality in the CKD and non-CKD populations. Results: Consuming nuts 1-6 times per week was associated with a lower prevalence of CKD (model 3: OR: 0.67; 95% CI: 0.49-0.91). In addition, higher nut consumption was significantly associated with lower all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in the non-CKD population. For the CKD population, a consistently significant inverse association could be seen between consuming nuts 1-6 per week and all-cause mortality (model 3: HR: 0.63; 95% CI: 0.47-0.86). No groups showed a significant difference in cardiovascular mortality compared with the reference in the full model. Conclusion: We recommend the CKD population to have an adequate intake of nuts 1-6 times per week, while the consumption frequency can be more flexible for the non-CKD. Further prospective studies should be conducted to confirm this conclusion.

Why Should Pistachio Be a Regular Food in Our Diet?

Mateos, R., M.D. Salvador, G. Fregapane, L. Goya, 2022. Why Should Pistachio Be a Regular Food in Our Diet? Nutrients. 14(15):3207. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14153207

The pistachio is regarded as a relevant source of biologically active components that, compared to other nuts, possess a healthier nutritional profile with low-fat content composed mainly of monounsaturated fatty acids, a high source of vegetable protein and dietary fibre, remarkable content of minerals, especially potassium, and an excellent source of vitamins, such as vitamins C and E. A rich composition in terms of phytochemicals, such as tocopherols, carotenoids, and, importantly, phenolic compounds, makes pistachio a powerful food to explore its involvement in the prevention of prevalent pathologies. Although pistachio has been less explored than other nuts (walnut, almonds, hazelnut, etc.), many studies provide evidence of its beneficial effects on CVD risk factors beyond the lipid-lowering effect. The present review gathers recent data regarding the most beneficial effects of pistachio on lipid and glucose homeostasis, endothelial function, oxidative stress, and inflammation that essentially convey a protective/preventive effect on the onset of pathological conditions, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, CVD, and cancer. Likewise, the influence of pistachio consumption on gut microbiota is reviewed with promising results. However, population nut consumption does not meet current intake recommendations due to the extended belief that they are fattening products, their high cost, or teething problems, among the most critical barriers, which would be solved with more research and information.