Effects of Daily Peanut Consumption on Lipid Profiles of Hypercholesterolemic People

Hypercholesterolemia is an important risk factor in development of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Several studies have shown that frequent nut consumption in healthy people has some beneficial effects on their lipid profiles. Therefore, we performed this study in affliated hospitals of Shaheed Beheshti Medical University in 2004 to show the effects of peanut consumption on lipid profiles of hypercholesterolemic people without changing their habitual diet. Thirty-seven hypercholesterolemic patients with blood cholesterol levels of 200-300 mg/dl who had the inclusion criteria, enrolled this clinical trial (before- after). Peanut used up to 15% of the daily calorie intake of subjects (about 50 gr) daily with no other changes in their habitual diet for 4 weeks. Paired t- test was used for statistical analysis. Thirty-seven subjects aging 43±8.6 years were participated in our study. Serum cholesterol level had significant reduction from 233±29 to 215±34 mg/dl (P<0.001), as well as LDL cholesterol levels (from 103±18 to 94±12 mg/dl (P=0.001)) and triacylglycerol (from 218±116 to 189±92 mg/dl (P = 0.03)). In addition, the ratios of LDL-C/HDL-C and total Cholesterol/HDL-C decreased from 2.07±0.18 to 1.94±0.09 (P<0.001) and from 4.8±1.03 to 4.43±0.25 (P= 0.04), respectively. Systolic blood pressure decreased from 115±15 to 109±16 mmhg (P= 0.002). Body weight and BMI did not change significantly during the study. It seems that peanut consumption with no further changes in the habitual diet of hypercholesterolemic subjects, sets favorable lipid profiles without weight gaining. Experimental surveys with control groups is recommended to evaluate the long-term effects of peanut consumption in hypercholesterolemic subjects