Occasional peanut nibbling protects against cardiovascular disease

Physicians studied effects of peanut consumption
Cardiovascular diseases are diseases of the heart and the blood vessel system. Such diseases lead to a large number of deaths in Germany. Researchers now found that consuming peanuts can help prevent heart attacks and strokes.

Pennsylvania State University researchers in the US found in their study that eating peanuts reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. The physicians published the results of their study in the journal "Journal of Nutrition".

Peanuts are tasty and also have a positive effect on the elasticity of our arteries. Do you like to eat peanuts regularly? If so, you protect your body from dangerous cardiovascular diseases. (Image: atoss / fotolia.com)

Subjects eat shakes with peanuts while eating
For their study, the experts examined 15 healthy but overweight or obese men. During the study participants took a control meal of about 85 grams (average serving size) of unsalted peanuts in the form of a shake. A control group received a shake with similar nutritional content and quality. However, these shakes did not contain peanuts, explain the American experts.

Peanuts reduce the typical increase in triglycerides after a meal
All subjects were measured for lipid, lipoprotein and insulin levels, say the researchers. These measurements were taken 60, 120 and 240 minutes after consumption. The researchers found that eating peanuts reduced triglyceride levels by 32 percent compared to the control group without peanut shakes. Consuming peanuts during a meal reduced the typical increase in triglycerides after a meal, the authors explain.

Peanuts keep arteries more elastic
Eating peanuts seems to support the cells that keep the arteries healthy. As a result, the arteries remain elastic, explain the researchers. As a rule, the consumption of meals causes the arteries to stiffen a little after eating.

Consumption of peanuts prevents stiffening of the arteries after eating
The results found during the study show that consuming some peanuts together can prevent meals from stiffening arteries, says Dr. Penny Kris-Etherton of Pennsylvania State University in the USA.

Stiffening of the arteries increases the risk of severe cardiovascular problems
Over time, the arterial stiffening reaction can limit blood flow throughout the body. This effect causes the heart to work harder, explain the experts. The result of this is that the risk of serious cardiovascular problems increases over time.

Peanuts prevent reduction of dilatation of the arteries
Because the heart has to work harder and harder over a long period of time, it could eventually lead to heart failure, says the author Dr. med. Kris-Etherton. After a meal, the triglycerides increase, which usually reduces the dilation of the arteries. But eating peanuts can prevent such an effect, adds the expert. (As)