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Nutrition in acute and chronic diseases

Effect of a nut-enriched low-calorie diet on body weight and selected markers of inflammation in overweight and obese stable coronary artery disease patients: a randomized controlled study

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 75, pages 1099–1108 (2021)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/objectives

Weight loss through a low-calorie diet (LCD) could improve low-grade inflammation evident in the obese state. Few studies have evaluated the effect of the mixed nuts consumption in the context of a LCD on inflammatory biomarkers. This study compared the effects of a nut-enriched LCD (NELCD) with a nut-free LCD (NFLCD) on body weight and inflammatory markers in overweight or obese coronary artery disease (CAD) patients.

Subjects/method

In this randomized controlled parallel trial, patients with stable CAD of both genders were randomly allocated to 8-week NELCD or NFLCD. Body weight, plasma C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin 10 (IL-10), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), and monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP-1) were assessed at baseline and 8 weeks.

Results

Overall, 67 patients (aged 58.8 ± 7.4 years; BMI 30.9 ± 3.9 kg/m2) completed the study. Participants in both groups lost weight to a comparable extent. Patients in the NELCD group showed a decrease in ICAM-1 (p = 0.04) and IL-6 (p = 0.02) concentrations compared to NFLCD group. No significant difference in concentrations of MCP-1, IL-10, or CRP was observed between diet groups.

Conclusions

Nuts are healthy energy-dense foods that if included in controlled amounts in a weight management program can still result in weight reduction and may improve some plasma concentration of inflammatory factors, such as ICAM-1 and IL-6.

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Fig. 1: Flow diagram of the study.

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Funding

This research is funded by the National Nutrition and Food Technology Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Nutrition Sciences and Food Technology, National Nutrition and Food Technology, Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Matin Ghanavati, Susan Mohammadi Hosseinabadi, Hadi Emamat & Javad Nasrollahzadeh

  2. Cardiovascular Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Saeed Alipour Parsa & Morteza Safi

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  1. Matin Ghanavati
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Contributions

The study was conceptualized by JN and MG, conducted by MG, SAP, SMH, and MS and the manuscript was prepared by JN, MG, and HE. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Javad Nasrollahzadeh.

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Ghanavati, M., Hosseinabadi, S.M., Parsa, S.A. et al. Effect of a nut-enriched low-calorie diet on body weight and selected markers of inflammation in overweight and obese stable coronary artery disease patients: a randomized controlled study. Eur J Clin Nutr 75, 1099–1108 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-020-00819-9

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