New article: Peanuts may protect against cardiovascular diseases read more at here http://www.spinonews.com/index.php/medical-news/item/3149-peanuts-may-protect-against-cardiovascular-diseases

According to an international team of researchers, eating peanuts with a meal may help protect against cardiovascular diseases which can lead to heart attacks and stroke.

Penny Kris-Etherton, distinguished professor of nutrition, Penn State, said, in the study overweight and obese but otherwise healthy men who ate about three ounces of peanuts with a high-fat meal had a blunted increase of lipids in their bloodstream.

She added that previous studies have shown that after a meal, there is a spike in blood lipids. This spike can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death in the United States, as well as around the world.

Typically, whenever we eat something, it causes the arteries to get a little bit stiffer during the post-meal period, but we have shown that if you eat peanuts with your meal, this can help prevent the stiffening response.

She added that over time, the arterial stiffening response can limit blood flow throughout the body and cause the heart to work harder, increasing the risks of serious cardiovascular problems over time.

Kris-Etherton, said, as the heart works harder and harder, over a long period of time, it could lead, ultimately, to heart failure.

According to the researchers, eating peanuts can keep the cells that line the arteries healthy, helping them stay more elastic. The researchers showed that when peanuts are eaten with a meal the typical post-meal increase of triglycerides, a type of fat found in the bloodstream is blunted.

"After a meal, triglycerides increase and this typically decreases the dilation of the arteries, but the peanuts prevent that big increase in triglycerides after the meal," said Kris-Etherton.

The researchers recruited 15 healthy overweight and obese men for the study. Participants ate a control meal with three ounces of ground unsalted peanuts in the form of a shake.

A control group was fed a shake of similar nutritional quantity and quality, but without the peanuts. The researchers took blood samples from the subjects to measure lipid, lipoprotein and insulin levels after 30, 60, 120 and 240 minutes.

According to the researchers, there was a 32 percent reduction in the triglyceride levels after the consumption of the peanut meal compared to the control group.

Three ounces of peanuts is about three times the amount of an average serving size. Although the peanuts were ground up into a shake for the study, the researchers indicate that just eating peanuts would be expected to cause the same response.