Peanut consumption and cardiovascular risk

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the effects of peanut consumption on lipid profiles, atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) and CHD risk in hypercholesterolaemic men. DESIGN: Randomised crossover clinical trial. SETTING: Participants were randomly assigned to two groups. They were asked to consume peanut supplements (about 77 g) with their habitual diet for 4 weeks. SUBJECTS: Fifty-four hypercholesterolaemic men with total cholesterol (TC) concentrations between 200 and 350 mg/dl. RESULTS: Compared with the habitual diet, peanut supplementation of the habitual diet significantly reduced TC/HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio (mean 1 (se 0.3) P = 0.001) and LDL cholesterol (LDL-C)/HDL-C ratio (mean 0.7 (se 0.2); P = 0.001). Peanut consumption increased HDL-C (mean 6.1 (se 1.5) mg/dl; P < 0.001) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) (mean 1.2 (se 0.6) U/mL P = 0.04). In addition, peanut consumption significantly reduced the AIP (mean 0.1 (se 0.03) P = 0.01) and CHD estimated risk over 10 years based on systolic and diastolic blood pressures (mean 1.4 % (se 0.5 %) P = 0.004 and mean 2.2 % (se 0.5 %) P < 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Short-term peanut consumption might improve lipid profiles, the AIP and CHD risk in free-living hypercholesterolaemic men.