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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A handful of pistachios a day may help you fight heart disease.
A new study from Penn State reveals 1.5 to three ounces of the nuts can significantly lower cholesterol and provide the antioxidants you usually get from leafy green vegetables and brightly colored fruit.
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Participants had one of three diets -- one without pistachios which had 25 percent total fat and eight percent saturated fat; another with 1.5 ounces of pistachios per day with 30 percent total fat and eight percent saturated fat; and the third included three ounces of pistachios each day with 34 percent total fat and eight percent saturated fat. About half the pistachios were featured as a snack; the rest were incorporated into foods like muffins, granola, and pesto.
Results show three ounces of pistachios reduced total cholesterol by 8.4-percent and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) -- the so-called bad cholesterol -- by 11.6 percent. Non-high density lipoproteins (non-HDL) -- considered reliable predictors of cardiovascular disease risk -- decreased by 11.2-percent.
Researchers also looked at how the three diets affected oxidized LDL and antioxidants in the blood. They found both the diets with 1.5 and three ounces of pistachios reduced oxidized LDL compared with the other diet. The pistachio diets significantly increased lutein levels in the blood, which may indicate that the lutein in pistachios improves the risk of cardiovascular disease by reducing serum oxidized LDL.
The authors conclude pistachios may decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease when they are eaten as part of a heart healthy diet.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Experimental Biology Meeting in Washington, D.C., April 28 -- May 2, 2007
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