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Abstract

Objectives: Obesity is a globally pervasive health concern linked to a plethora of cardiometabolic complications such as hypertension, dyslipidemia and hyperglycemia. Poor dietary proclivity contributes to dyslipidemia, however daily intake of nuts has previously been shown to improve abnormal blood lipid levels. The present study evaluated the effect of almond intake on the lipid profiles of normal, overweight and obese adults to discern which group benefits the most. Study Design: A prospective non-randomized comparative study design was employed. Setting: Institute of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of Lahore and Department of Biochemistry, Central Park Medical College, Lahore. Period: May 2018 and December 2018. Material & Methods: A total of 34 adult subjects (males and females) were recruited for the study with an age range from 21 to 60 years. Participants were categorized into normal, overweight and obese groups based on their Body Mass Index (BMI) values. Baseline fasting blood samples were drawn from each subject and stored. The subjects were then asked to consume 50g/day almonds (without peel) for 30 days after which blood samples were again collected from each subject. Both baseline and post-supplementation serum samples were subjected to lipid profile analysis. Result: Almond supplementation resulted in lowered cholesterol, LDL and VLDL levels (p-values of 0.0001, 0.001 and 0.003, respectively) in Group 1 (normal weight). Lowered cholesterol levels were also observed (p-value 0.007) in Group 2 (overweight). There was no significant change in lipid profile in Group 3 (overweight), upon supplementation. Conclusion: Regular almond supplementation offers improvement in lipid profile and such beneficial effects of almond consumption on lipid profile are more pronounced in normal weight individuals than overweight or obese ones.