Over the past ten years, the Almond Board of California (ABC) has been involved in extensive research exploring the health benefits of almonds. The primary objective is to add scientific validity to the fact that almonds are a healthy snack alternative, and to recognize that they add nutritional value to any dish. ABC pursues research relevant to the health of today’s consumers both in the USA and abroad and provides a foundation for the ABC marketing programs worldwide. The project leaders who are commissioned for the research rank at the top of their respective fields come from more than 20 scientific organizations globally, such as the University of California (UC), Loma Linda University (LLU), University of Toronto (U of T), Tufts University, Michigan State University, Purdue University, City of Hope Medical Center, King’s College London, Peking Medical University, and others.

There are now two publications that give overviews of almond's health benefits. _{1, 2} These overviews include the emerging research demonstrating that almonds as a nutrient-rich, satiating food may play a role in weight control and maintenance, followed by the latest information on almond phytochemicals and their potential role in cancer prevention.

Heart Health Benefits

Our major clinical focus has been to determine the relationship between almond consumption, cardiovascular disease, and related risk factors. In September, 2002, the American Heart Association’s journal, Circulation, published the first almond study in a medical journal, showing that in a clinical study of people with elevated cholesterol, almonds significantly lowered bad cholesterol levels, and a linear reduction in LDL cholesterol resulted in response to an acceptable range of almond intake in a dose-response manner. ₃ In June, 2003, a second dose response metabolic study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition on men and women with normal cholesterol levels, showed that a high almond diet decreased total cholesterol, reduced LDL, and improved HDL levels. ₄ These two studies represent some of the strongest in a petition filed by the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research and Education Foundation to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a heart health claim for nuts.

On July 15, 2003, the FDA approved the first qualified health claim for conventional food, saying that “eating one and a half ounces of most nuts (about one-third cup), including almonds, may reduce the risk of heart disease when they’re part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol.” The claim states: “Scientific evidence suggests but does not prove that eating 1.5 ounces per day of most nuts, such as almonds, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease.” The claim is one of only six existing health claims relating to heart disease, and is the result of rigorous review of a large body of scientific research citing the heart health benefits of nuts.

A study published in Metabolism, December, 2002, was the first of a series by Researchers at the University of Toronto to test the hypothesis that a dietary portfolio of four cholesterol lowering components, which also complied with currently recommended dietary changes of low saturated fat and low dietary cholesterol,could be incorporated into a contemporary diet that was acceptable and would result in maximal dietary cholesterol reductions. The study found that diets incorporating this combination of recognized heart-healthy foods, including a snack of almonds, may be as effective as the starting dose of first-line drugs such as statins, in managing cholesterol. Almonds were the only nut included in the eating plan, which also included foods high in soy protein, viscous fiber and plant sterols. The portfolio eating plan, proved effective in reducing LDL cholesterol by 29 percent and the ratio of LDL cholesterol to HDL cholesterol by 26 percent. ₅ On July 23, 2003, the next phase of the portfolio dietary research was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Findings revealed that consumption of this dietary plan, characterized by heart-healthy foods including almonds, is as effective in managing cholesterol as taking a starting dose of cholesterol-lowering drugs. In phase 3 of what is known as the “Portfolio Eating Plan,” this dietary approach also lowered c-reactive protein levels, an indicator of inflamed arteries and a risk factor for heart disease, in individuals who followed the plan more than in the patients taking statins. This was the first study to show that a dietary strategy can be effective in lowering c-reactive protein and suggests that the portfolio diet may have additional benefits beyond that of cholesterol reduction. ₆

More recently, a study published in the November, 2003, issue of the journal Metabolism showed that the portfolio dietary plan achieved a 35 percent decrease in LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol in just two weeks. The control diet for 25 healthy hyperlipidemic patients was a very low saturated fat and low cholesterol diet, formerly known as the National Cholesterol Education program Step II (NCEP II). This proven heart healthy control diet lowered cholesterol 12 percent, while the portfolio eating plan reduced cholesterol almost three times as much – 35 percent. ₇ The study shows that the portfolio dietary approach enhances the cholesterol lowering capability of a low saturated fat and low cholesterol diet and is as effective as the starting dose of cholesterol-lowering drugs such as statins in managing cholesterol. This is the third published study on the portfolio eating plan, and all portfolio studies published to date have shown a consistent, drug-like effect in improving patients’ cholesterol profiles. Dr. David Jenkins, of the Department of Nutritional Sciences and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, said, “We didn’t know before conducting our series of portfolio studies that these foods can achieve such a dramatic cholesterol-lowering effect when eaten in combination – and that it can happen so quickly.” The portfolio diet provides an effective therapeutic dietary strategy especially for clients with lipid concentrations just below the cut-off point for drug therapy, for those who cannot afford drug therapy or for those that cannot reach their LDL-C goal with drug therapy alone. Clients compliant to the portfolio regime may benefit from a reduction of their cholesterol lowering medications.

Almond Composition

Along with clinical studies there is a concentrated ongoing effort to update almond composition data including the USDA revision of the nutrient database for almonds. Almonds are a nutrient dense whole food and are a good sourceof dietary fiber, heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, high-quality protein, and cholesterol free. We want consumers everywhere to know the important facts related to almond nutritional quality and to benefit from their incorporation into daily meal patterns.

Almonds and Weight/Diabetes

In November 2003, the International Journal of Obesity published research findings by City of Hope Medical Center and Loma Linda University in California showing that an almond-enriched formula-based low-calorie diet (LCD) improves abnormalities associated with the metabolic syndrome. Both dietary interventions including the almond enriched and complex carbohydrate enriched LCD decreased body weight beyond the weight loss observed during long-term pharmacological interventions. Results demonstrated that the almond LCD group experienced a sustained and greater weight reduction during the the 24-week intervention study period. Researchers found that the almond supplementation of a formaula-based LCD provides an alternative to self-selected complex carbohydrates and may have a role in reducing the public health implications of obesity. ₈

The epidemic of overweight and obesity and increased prevalance of the metabolic syndrome and type II Diabetes is of serious public health concern. The prospect that almond intervention as part of a healthy dietary plan and ideal lifestyle habits may play a role towards maintaining weight or weight reduction is an exciting prospect and foundation for research in many domains related to almond energetics, long term weight loss studies and almond composition and digestion.

Please read on to learn more about the ABC Nutrition Research Program including a list of published papers and current ABC-funded projects that are in progress.