‘Almonds can boost heart health in diabetic people’

Including almonds in the Including almonds in the  diet may reduce the risk  of cardiovascular disease in people with type 2 diabetes, researchers have found.According to the International Diabetes Federation, diabetes currently affects over 425 million people worldwide, and more than 72.9 million cases were reported in India in 2017. A study, published in the Journal of Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders, on 50 Indians with type 2 diabetes and elevated cholesterol levels, found that substituting whole, unroasted almonds for 20 calories in a well-balanced diet significantly improved measures of heart health linked to type 2 diabetes. Another study, published in the journal Nutrition & Metabolism, looked at the effect of including 60 grammes of almonds a day on maintenance of blood sugar levels and cardiovascular disease factors among 33 Chinese participants with type 2 diabetes. While the almond diet offered better overall nutritional quality, neither diet — with or without almonds — improved blood sugar status, nor most cardiovascular risk factors as was expected. However, researchers found that among a subset of participants who had fairly well-controlled type 2 diabetes, the almond diet lowered fasting serum glucose level (which measures blood sugar levels after fasting) by 6 per cent and HbA1c (which measures average blood sugar levels over a two or three month period) by 3 per cent. These results suggest that including almonds in a healthy diet may help improve long-term blood sugar levels in people with better controlled type 2 diabetes. Inflammation is thought to play a role in heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic diseases, and elevated CRP is linked with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease in people with type 2 diabetes, researchers said. The nutrient profile of almonds — low on the glycemic index and providing a powerful nutrient package including dietary fibre, protein, calcium and folate, makes them a smart snack for those with type 2 diabetes in a healthy eating plan, they said. (PTI)