Eating a couple handfuls of pistachios a day may reduce the body’s response to the stresses of everyday life and even help protect diabetics from the ravages of heart disease, according to a new Penn State study.
Lead researcher Sheila G. West, a professor of biobehavioral health and nutritional sciences, found that people with diabetes who ate two servings of pistachios (about 150 nuts) per day for a month fared better in a key measure of cardiovascular health than those who did not eat nuts.
The findings, published in the
Journal of the American Heart Association , suggest pistachios may boost the heart health of people with diabetes,
Medical Xpress reports.
“In adults with diabetes, two servings of pistachios per day lowered vascular constriction during stress and improved neural control of the heart," West said. “Although nuts are high in fat, they contain good fats, fiber, potassium, and antioxidants. Given the high risk of heart disease in people with diabetes, nuts are an important component of a heart healthy diet in this population.”
For the study, West and her colleagues tracked two groups of people with diabetes. Half of the participants ate a standard heart-healthy diet (27 percent fat and 7 percent saturated fat); the other half followed the same diet, but also consumed two three-ounce servings per day of pistachios. At the study, the researchers measured blood pressure and total peripheral vascular resistance at rest and during two stress tests: a cold water challenge and a confusing mental arithmetic test.
“After the pistachio diet, blood vessels remained more relaxed and open during the stress tests,” West said. Although laboratory measurements of blood pressure were not affected by pistachios, real-world measures of blood pressure showed they were significantly lower after the pistachio diet.
The study was funded, in part, by the American Pistachio Growers trade organization.
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