Effect of Tree Nuts Consumption on Serum Lipid Profile in Hyperlipidemic Individuals: A Systematic Review

Many epidemiological studies have regularly connected nuts intake with decreased risk for coronary heart disease. The primary mechanism by which nuts protect against cardiovascular disease is through the improvement of lipid and apolipoprotein profile. Therefore, numerous dietary intervention studies investigated the impact of nut consumption on blood lipid levels. Many studies have shown that nut intake can enhance the lipid profile in a dose-response way among individuals with increased serum lipids. This systematic review examines the effectiveness of nuts on the lipid profile among patients with dyslipidemia from different age groups. A total of 29 interventional studies from 5 databases met the inclusion criteria. In all, 20 studies were randomized controlled clinical trials, whereas 9 were crossover-controlled clinical trials. Participants included in the studies were different in terms of age, sex and, serum lipid profile. The studies were inconsistent in the type of tree nuts, duration, dose, and the nut forms. All studies indicated changes in the lipid profile after the intervention particularly on the total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, triglycerides, total cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein. Interventional periods ranged from 3 weeks up to 12 months with doses ranged from 15 to 126 gm. In conclusion, this review provides an evidence of favorable effect of nuts consumption of serum lipid profile.