Eating Pistachios Daily Controls Sugar Levels in Pre-diabetics: Study

Snacking on pistachios helps stave off the risk of type-2 diabetes, according to a study.

Pistachios are an integral part of central Asian and Middle Eastern cuisines and are mostly added to desserts and sweet dishes. The nut is an ideal food product owing to its high nutritive contents. Past clinical research found that eating pistachios manages cholesterol levels and keeps heart illnesses at bay. Spanish experts at Universitari Hospital of Sant Joan de Reus, in Reus and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III in Madrid discovered frequent intake of pistachios controls blood sugar and insulin levels in pre-diabetic individuals and reduces their possibility of developing of disease in the next five years.

The study involved 54 adults in pre-diabetic stage who either consumed 57 grams of pistachios along with a strict diet with certain amount of carbohydrates, protein and calories or olive oil for four consecutive months. The participants' fasting blood glucose levels, insulin and bio-markers of insulin resistance were recorded to assess their likelihood for diabetes mellitus.

It was observed all subjects did not experience drastic changes in body weight but, those who ate pistachios had controlled blood sugar levels, insulin and inflammation.

"Although pistachios were examined in this work, I believe that any beneficial effects on glucose metabolism are shared by all nuts, as they have a general composition with lots of bioactive compounds liable to beneficially affect biological pathways leading to insulin resistance and diabetes," said Emilio Ros, director of the Lipid Clinic of the Endocrinology and Nutrition Service at Hospital Clínic in Barcelona who was not a part of the trial, reports the Reuters News.

"The nut industry always supports clinical or experimental studies with their nuts, otherwise no such studies would be carried out," Ros told Reuters Health.

The findings urge people to ensure they eat at least a handful of nuts like peanuts and pistachios every day to avoid illnesses and deadly diseases and also adopt healthy lifestyle and exercising habits.

"There are some indications that eating pistachios on a regular basis lowers fasting glucose and lowers insulin and hormone ratio, which is particularly relevant in pre-diabetic subjects because unless they do a change in lifestyle they will end up being diabetic," said Joan Sabate, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the School of Public Health at Loma Linda University in California.

More information is available online in the journal Diabetes Care.