Macadamia nut effects on cardiometabolic risk factors: a randomised trial

• Published in: Journal of nutritional science (Cambridge) Vol. 12; p. e55
• Main Authors: Jones, Julie L., Sabaté, Joan, Heskey, Celine, Oda, Keiji, Miles, Fayth, Rajaram, Sujatha
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 2023
• Subjects: Adiposity; Body composition; Body fat; Body mass index; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular Diseases - prevention & control; Cholesterol; Cholesterol, LDL; Data collection; Diet; Energy; Fatty acids; Glucose; High density lipoprotein; Human and Clinical Nutrition; Insulin resistance; Intervention; LDL-C; Lipids; Macadamia; Macadamia nuts; Metabolic disorders; Nutrition research; Nuts; Obesity; Overweight; Palmitoleic acid; Plasma; Skin cancer; Standard error of estimate; Standard error of measurement; Variables; Women; United States > US; Loma Linda California; Adiposity; LDL-C; Palmitoleic acid; Body composition; Cholesterol; Macadamia nuts; LBM, lean body mass; CV, coefficient of variation; CVD, cardiovascular disease; WC, waist circumference; HOMA2, homeostasis model assessment 2; DLM, dry lean mass; sdLDL, small dense low-density lipoprotein; oxLDL, oxidised LDL; SMM, skeletal muscle mass; Mac, macadamia nuts; Apo A1, apoprotein A1; TEE, total energy expenditure; Apo B, apoprotein B; VLDL,, very low-density lipoprotein; Body fat, percent body fat; sem, standard error of the mean; TAG, triacylglycerol; BFM, body fat mass; IR, insulin resistance; TBW, total body water; TC, total cholesterol; se, standard error
• ISSN: 2048-6790; 2048-6790
• DOI: 10.1017/jns.2023.39

We sought to examine the effects of daily consumption of macadamia nuts on body weight and composition, plasma lipids and glycaemic parameters in a free-living environment in overweight and obese adults at elevated cardiometabolic risk. Utilising a randomised cross-over design, thirty-five adults with abdominal obesity consumed their usual diet plus macadamia nuts (~15 % of daily calories) for 8 weeks (intervention) and their usual diet without nuts for 8 weeks (control), with a 2-week washout. Body composition was determined by bioelectrical impedance; dietary intake was assessed with 24-h dietary recalls. Consumption of macadamia nuts led to increased total fat and MUFA intake while SFA intake was unaltered. With mixed model regression analysis, no significant changes in mean weight, BMI, waist circumference, percent body fat or glycaemic parameters, and non-significant reductions in plasma total cholesterol of 2⋅1 % (−4⋅3 mg/dl; 95 % CI −14⋅8, 6⋅1) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C) of 4 % (−4⋅7 mg/dl; 95 % CI −14⋅3, 4⋅8) were observed. Cholesterol-lowering effects were modified by adiposity: greater lipid lowering occurred in those with overweight v. obesity, and in those with less than the median percent body fat. Daily consumption of macadamia nuts does not lead to gains in weight or body fat under free-living conditions in overweight or obese adults; non-significant cholesterol lowering occurred without altering saturated fat intake of similar magnitude to cholesterol lowering seen with other nuts. Clinical Trial Registry Number and Website: NCT03801837 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03801837?term = macadamia + nut&draw = 2&rank = 1