Association of nut consumption with insulin resistance and blood lipid profile in Spanish university students

María Medrano; Miriam Garrido-Miguel; Isabel Antonia Martínez-Ortega; Arthur Eumann Mesas; Francisco J Amaro-Gahete; Vicente Martínez-Vizcaíno; Rubén Fernández-Rodríguez

doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2023.114332

Association of nut consumption with insulin resistance and blood lipid profile in Spanish university students

Physiol Behav. 2023 Nov 1:271:114332. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2023.114332. Epub 2023 Aug 16.

Authors

María Medrano¹, Miriam Garrido-Miguel², Isabel Antonia Martínez-Ortega³, Arthur Eumann Mesas⁴, Francisco J Amaro-Gahete⁵, Vicente Martínez-Vizcaíno⁶, Rubén Fernández-Rodríguez³

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Innovation & Sustainable Food Chain Development, Department of Health Sciences, Public University of Navarra, Campus Arrosadía, s/n, 31006 Pamplona, Spain; CIBER de Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBEROBN), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain; Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Health and Social Research Center, Cuenca, Spain.
² Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Health and Social Research Center, Cuenca, Spain; Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Faculty of Nursing, Albacete, Spain. Electronic address: miriam.garrido@uclm.es.
³ Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Health and Social Research Center, Cuenca, Spain.
⁴ Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Health and Social Research Center, Cuenca, Spain; Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Postgraduate Program in Public Health, Londrina, Brazil.
⁵ CIBER de Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBEROBN), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain; Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sports Science, Sport and Health University Research Institute (iMUDS), University of Granada, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria, ibs. Granada, Spain.
⁶ Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Health and Social Research Center, Cuenca, Spain; Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Faculty of Health Sciences, Talca, Chile.

PMID: 37595817
DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2023.114332

Abstract

Aims: To examine whether nut consumption was associated with insulin resistance and blood lipid parameters in a sample of young healthy adults.

Material and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 306 first-year students (aged 18-30 years) from the University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. Biochemical variables related to insulin resistance and blood lipid profile (glucose, insulin, HbA1c, total cholesterol (total-c), LDL-c, HDL-c, and triglycerides) were determined from morning fasting blood samples. Nut consumption was estimated using a 137-item Food-Frequency Questionnaire. The associations of walnuts, other nuts and total nut intakes with insulin resistance and lipid profile variables and surrogates were assessed by linear regression analysis. Differences in insulin resistance and lipid profiles between participants meeting or not meeting the nut consumption recommendations were examined by analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Logistic regressions were used to analyze the likelihood of having higher levels of blood lipids or insulin resistance in participants who met or did not meet the recommended intake of nuts.

Results: There was no association found between nut consumption, whether walnuts or other nut varieties, and insulin resistance and lipid profile variables. Additionally, there were no significant differences in insulin resistance or blood lipid profile variables between university students meeting or not meeting nut consumption recommendations. Finally, stratified analyses based on sex were consistent and did not substantially modify our estimates in the fully adjusted models.

Conclusions: In conclusion, our results suggest that walnuts, other types of nuts, and total nut consumption did not adversely influence metabolic or lipid profile variables among healthy young adults. Although nuts are recommended among healthy dietary patterns, our findings showed that nut consumption has a null effect on the cardiometabolic risk parameters explored in young healthy adults.

Keywords: Cardiovascular disease; College students; Insulin resistance; Lipid profile; Nuts.