Abstract
Nuts have many nutritional benefits: they are high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, fiber, vitamin, minerals, and phytonutrients. Population studies indicate that individuals who regularly consume nuts have reduced risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. In clinical trials, nuts appear to have a neutral effect on glucose and insulin, and a beneficial effect on lipid profile. Thus, nuts can be a healthy dietary component for individuals with diabetes or those at risk for diabetes, providing overall caloric intake is regulated to maintain a healthy body weight.
Similar content being viewed by others
References and Recommended Reading
USDA National Nutrient Database. http://www.nal.usda.gov/ fnic/foodcomp/search. Accessed May 16, 2005.
Jiang R, Manson JE, Stampfer MJ, et al.: Nut and peanut butter consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes in women. JAMA 2002, 288:2554–2560. In this prospective, nationwide cohort study of over 83,000 nurses with 16 years of follow-up, women with higher nut and peanut butter consumption had reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Lovejoy JC, Most MM, Lefevre M, et al.: Effect of diets enriched in almonds on insulin action and serum lipids in adults with normal glucose tolerance or type 2 diabetes. Am J Clin Nutr 2002, 76:1000–1006.
Lovejoy JC: The influence of dietary fat on insulin resistance. Curr Diab Rep 2002, 2:435–440.
Riccardi G, Giacco R, Rivellese AA: Dietary fat, insulin sensitivity and the metabolic syndrome. Clin Nutr 2004, 23:447–456.
Garcia-Lorda P, Rangil IM, Salas-Salvado J: Nut consumption, body weight and insulin resistance. Eur J Clin Nutr 2003, 57(suppl 1):S8-S11.
St-Ong MP: Dietary fats, teas, dairy and nuts: potential functional foods for weight control? Am J Clin Nutr 2005, 81:7–15.
Soriguer FJ, Gonzales-Romero S, Esteva I, et al.: Does the intake of nuts and seeds alter the appearance of menarche? Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 1995, 74:455–461.
Fraser GE, Bennett HW, Jaceldo KB, Sabate J: Effect on body weight of a free 76 Kilojoule (320 calorie) daily supplement of almonds for six months. J Am Coll Nutr 2002, 21:275–283.
Almario RU, Vonghavaravat V, Wong R, Kasim-Karakas SE: Effects of walnut consumption on plasma fatty acids and lipoproteins in combined hyperlipidemia. Am J Clin Nutr 2001, 74:72–79.
Morgan WA, Clayshulte BJ: Pecans lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in people with normal lipid levels. J Am Diet Assoc 2000, 100:312–318.
Nutrition recommendations and principles for people with diabetes mellitus. American Diabetes Association [no authors listed]. Diabetes Care 1994, 17:519-522.
13. Ros E: Dietary cis-monounsaturated fatty acids and metabolic control in type 2 diabetes. Am J Clin Nutr 2003, 78(suppl):617S-625S.
Luscombe ND, Noakes M, Clifton PM: Diets high and low in glycemic index vs. high monounsaturated fat diets: effects on glucose and lipid metabolism in NIDDM. Eur J Clin Nutr 1999, 53:473–478.
Campbell LV, Marmot PE, Dyer JA, et al..: The high-monounsaturated fat diet as a practical alternative for NIDDM. Diabetes Care 1994, 17:177–182.
Fraser GE, Sabate J, Beeson WL, Strahan TM: A possible protective effect of nut consumption on risk of coronary heart disease. Arch Intern Med 1992, 152:1416–1424.
Kushi L, Folsom AR, Prineas RJ, et al.: Dietary antioxidant vitamins and death from coronary heart disease in postmenopausal women. N Engl J Med 1996, 334:1156–1162.
Sabate J: Nut consumption, vegetarian diets, ischemic heart disease risk, and all-cause mortality: evidence from epidemiologic studies. Am J Clin Nutr 1999, 70(snsuppl):500S-503S.
Albert CM, Gaziano JM, Willett WC, Manson JE: Nut consumption and decreased risk of sudden cardiac death in the Physicians’ Health Study. Arch Intern Med 2002, 162:1382–1387.
Hu FB, Stampfer MJ, Manson JE, et al..: Frequent nut consumption and risk of coronary heart disease in women: prospective cohort study. BMJ 1998, 317:1341–1345.
Lavedrine F, Zmirou D, Ravel A, et al.: Blood cholesterol and walnut consumption: a cross-sectional survey in France. Prev Med 1999, 28:333–339.
Sabate J, Fraser GE, Burke K, et al.: Effects of walnuts on serum lipid levels and blood pressure in normal men. N Engl J Med 1993, 328:603-607.
Chisholm A, Mann J, Skeaff M, et al.: A diet rich in walnuts favourably influences plasma fatty acid profile in moderately hyperlipidaemic subjects. Eur J Clin Nutr 1998, 52:12–16.
Spiller GA, Jenkins DJA, Bosello O, et al..: Nuts and plasma lipids: An almond-based diet lowers LDL-C while preserving HDL-C. J Am Coll Nutr 1998, 17:285–290.
Spiller GA, Jenkins DJA, Cragen LN, et al..: Effect of a diet high in monounsaturated fat from almonds on plasma cholesterol and lipoproteins. J Am Coll Nutr 1992, 11:126–130.
Colquhoun DM, Humphries JA, Moores D, Somerset SM: Effects of a macadamia nut enriched diet on serum lipids and lipoproteins compared to a low fat diet. Food Aust 1996, 48:216–222.
O’Byrne DJ, Knauft DA, Shireman RB: Low-fat monounsaturated rich diets containing high-oleic peanuts improve serum lipoprotein profiles. Lipids 1997, 32:687–695.
Kris-Etherton PM, Pearson TA, Wan Y, et al..: High-monounsaturated fatty acid diets lower both plasma cholesterol and triacylglycerol concentrations. Am J Clin Nutr 1999, 70:1009–1015.
Abbey M, Noakes M, Belling GB, Nestel PJ: Partial replacement of saturated fatty acids with almonds or walnuts lowers total plasma cholesterol and low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol. Am J Clin Nutr 1994, 59:995–999.
Curb JD, Wergowske G, Dobbs JC, et al.: Serum lipid effects of a high-monounsaturated fat diet based on macadamia nuts. Arch Int Med 2000, 160:1154–1158.
Alper CM, Mattes RD: Peanut consumption improves indices of cardiovascular disease risk in healthy adults. J Am Coll Nutr 2003, 22:133–141.
Tapsell LC, Gillen LJ, Patch CS, et al.: Including walnuts in a low-fat/modified-fat diet improves HDL cholesterol-to-total cholesterol ratios in patients with type 2 diabetes. ZA Diabetes Care 2004, 27:2777–2783. A randomized controlled clinical trial in diabetic patients comparing three diets (all 30% total fat): low-fat control, low-fat diet using exchange lists to modify fatty acid consumption, and low-fat diet with 30 g of walnuts supplemented per day. The walnut group had lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, higher HDL cholesterol, and similar hemoglobin A1c than the other groups.
Garg A: High-monounsaturated fat diets for patients with diabetes mellitus: a meta-analysis. Am J Clin Nutr 1998, 76:577S-582S.
Lopez-Ridaura R, Willett WC, Rimm EB, et al.: Magnesium intake and risk of type 2 diabetes in men and women. Diabetes Care 2004, 27:134–140. In this analysis of follow-up data from approximately 85,000 women in the Nurses’ Health Study and approximately 43,000 men in the Health Professionals’ Follow-up Study, higher intakes of dietary magnesium were associated with lower risk for developing diabetes, suggesting a possible mechanism for the protective effect of nuts, which are a high-magnesium food.
Rosolova H, Mayer O Jr, Reaven GM: Insulin-mediated glucose disposal is decreased in normal subjects with relatively low plasma magnesium concentrations. Metabolism 2000, 49:418–420.
Kao WH, Folsom AR, Nieto FJ, et al.: Serum and dietary magnesium and the risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. Arch Intern Med 1999, 159:2151–2159.
Laires MJ, Moreira H, Monteiro CP, et al.: Magnesium, insulin resistance and body composition in healthy postmenopausal women. J Am Coll Nutr 2004, 23:510S-513S.
Huerta MG, Roemmich JN, Kington ML, et al.: Magnesium deficiency is associated with insulin resistance in obese children. Diabetes Care 2005, 28:1175–1181.
Rodiguez-Moran M, Guerrero-Romero F: Oral magnesium supplementation improves insulin sensitivity and metabolic control in type 2 diabetic subjects. Diabetes Care 2003, 26:1147–1152.
Kris-Etherton PM, Yu-Poth S, Sabate J, et al.: Nuts and their bioactive constituents: effects on serum lipids and other factors that affect disease risk. Am J Clin Nutr 1999, 70(suppl):504S-511S.
Jenkins DJA, Kendall CWC, Marchie A, et al.: Type 2 diabetes and the vegetarian diet. Am J Clin Nutr 2003, 78(suppl):610S-616S.
Anderson JW: High carbohydrate, high fiber diets for patients with diabetes. Adv Exp Med Biol 1979, 119:263–273.
Barnard RJ, Massey MR, Cherny S, et al.: Long-term use of high-complex-carbohydrate, high-fiber, low-fat diet and exercise in the treatment of NIDDM patients. Diabetes Care 1983, 6:268–273.
Kurowski EM, Carroll KK: Hypercholesterolemic responses in rabbits to selected groups of dietary essential amino acids. J Nutr 1994,124:185–191.
Wells BJ, Mainous AG, Everett CJ: Association between dietary arginine and C-reactive protein. Nutrition 2005, 21:125–130.
Meydani M: Vitamin E modulation of cardiovascular disease. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2004, 1031:271–279.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lovejoy, J.C. The impact of nuts on diabetes and diabetes risk. Curr Diab Rep 5, 379–384 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-005-0097-x
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-005-0097-x