Funded in part by Almond Board of California
Effects of Dark Chocolate and Almonds on Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Overweight and Obese Individuals: A Randomized Controlled-Feeding Trial
Lee Y, Berryman CE, West SG, Chen CO, Blumberg JB, Lapsley KG, Preston AG, Fleming JA, Kris-Etherton PM
Journal of the American Heart Association · 43 citations
Review labels
Neutral facts our review recorded about how this study was done. They describe method, never whether we like the result.
How it was studied
- Design
- Randomized controlled trial (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
- Intake measured by
- Food provided by researchers
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Industry funded
- University or hospital
- University of Pennsylvania
- Industry group
- Almond Board of California
- University or hospital
- Pennsylvania State University
- Government
- National Institutes of Health
- Government
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
- Authors
- At least one author declares a financial tie to industry
Based on 5 listed funder(s) and full-text disclosure statement.
Publication
- Published
- 2017-11-30 · J Am Heart Assoc · vol. 6 · issue 12
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Cited
- 81 citations · more than 96% of similar papers · 5.0× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 47 works
- Access
- Open access (journal) · CC-BY-NC-ND
- Research areas
- Nuts composition and effects · Antioxidant Activity and Oxidative Stress · Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Keywords
- Dark chocolate, Medicine, Overweight, Crossover study, Randomized controlled trial, Cholesterol, Lipoprotein, Internal medicine, Obesity, Food science, Biology, Placebo
- MeSH
- humans, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, body mass index, prognosis, incidence, risk assessment, risk factors, cross-over studies, adult, aged, middle aged, pennsylvania, female, male, overweight, cholesterol, hdl, prunus dulcis, chocolate
9 authors
From US
- Yujin LeePennsylvania State University
- Claire E. BerrymanPennsylvania State University
- Sheila G. WestPennsylvania State University
- C.‐Y. Oliver ChenTufts University; Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging
- Jeffrey B. BlumbergTufts University; Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging
- Karen G. LapsleyAlmond Board of California
Abstract
Background
Consumption of almonds or dark chocolate and cocoa has favorable effects on markers of coronary heart disease; however, the combined effects have not been evaluated in a well-controlled feeding study. The aim of this study was to examine the individual and combined effects of consumption of dark chocolate and cocoa and almonds on markers of coronary heart disease risk.
Methods and results
A randomized controlled, 4-period, crossover, feeding trial was conducted in overweight and obese individuals aged 30 to 70 years. Forty-eight participants were randomized, and 31 participants completed the entire study. Each diet period was 4 weeks long, followed by a 2-week compliance break. Participants consumed each of 4 isocaloric, weight maintenance diets: (1) no treatment foods (average American diet), (2) 42.5 g/d of almonds (almond diet [ALD]), (3) 18 g/d of cocoa powder and 43 g/d of dark chocolate (chocolate diet [CHOC]), or (4) all 3 foods (CHOC+ALD). Compared with the average American diet, total cholesterol, non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol after the ALD were lower by 4%, 5%, and 7%, respectively (PP=0.04), whereas the CHOC+ALD had a greater decrease in small dense low-density lipoprotein particles (-12.0±2.8 versus -5.3±2.8 mg/dL; P=0.04). There were no significant differences between diets for measures of vascular health and oxidative stress.
Conclusions
Our results demonstrate that consumption of almonds alone or combined with dark chocolate under controlled-feeding conditions improves lipid profiles. Incorporating almonds, dark chocolate, and cocoa into a typical American diet without exceeding energy needs may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.
Clinical trial registration
URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01882881.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY-NC-ND).
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