Effects of Almond Consumption on Cardiovascular, Metabolomic, and Microbiome Profiles in Millennials
Study Details
Study Description
Brief Summary
The purpose of the study is to examine the effects of almond snacking on metabolic, cardiovascular and microbiome profiles in college freshmen.
Condition or Disease | Intervention/Treatment | Phase |
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N/A |
Detailed Description
Nut (principally almond) consumption helps ameliorate cardiovascular disease, reduce the risk of type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Recent studies have demonstrated improvements in glycemic control in T2DM and impaired glucose tolerant (IGT) subjects as well as in healthy adults. The association between nut consumption and diabetes prevalence is largely mediated by changes in body mass (adiposity). The application of metabolomic and lipidomic approaches to better asses the mechanisms regulating carbohydrates and lipids in an almond-based study has not been performed.
Additionally, the gut microbiota has been proposed to contribute to a number of metabolic disorders including insulin sensitivity, glucose metabolism, and other cardiometabolic risk factors. However, data demonstrating the complex interactions among dietary interventions, gut microbiome, glucose regulation, and cardiovascular phenotype are lacking.
Furthermore, because all the studies on nut consumption and health have been performed on adults (median age of subjects: +40 years) and given the increasing incidence of metabolic disorders (obesity, insulin resistance, etc.) at much younger stages of life especially in the Central Valley of California, no data exist on the potential benefits of almonds in ameliorating metabolic disorders at a much earlier life stage. This may be clinically more important than studies in adults because the transition from adolescence to adulthood is associated with a number of potential risk factors unique to this age group, especially in those that enter their first year of college. The fixed age of the participants contributes to a more homogeneous population than has been previously studied, which greatly minimizes the potential for age-dependent alterations in physiology to either potentiate or mask the effects of the almonds on metabolic mechanisms. The nutritional independence that is associated with going away to college poses many potential health challenges, for example the phenomenon, "Freshman 15". The increased prevalence of overweight and obesity is greatest in 18-29 year olds, especially among those reporting some college education (10.6%-17.8% vs 7.1%-12.1% in 18-29 year olds overall) suggesting that some aspect of the collegiate experience is associated with weight gain.
While almond-supplemented diets have been shown to reduce body mass or ameliorate weight gain, the evidence substantiating the benefits of functional foods in addressing the weight gain commonly associated with the transition to college is scarce and an untapped area of research. Furthermore, this transition to nutritional independence makes new college students vulnerable to additional alterations in eating patterns. Among these concerns are the relatively high number of college freshmen that reported skipping breakfast (20%-43%), which is by far the most skipped meal among those studies reviewed. This is important because chronically skipping breakfast in adolescents has detrimental outcomes on cardiometabolic health and has negative impacts on academic performance. Additionally, most college students snack, with snacking common both in the morning and the afternoon. Data suggest a benefit to snacking on peanuts and almonds. However, the benefits of snacking in young college students who routinely skip a meal (breakfast here) are not defined. Therefore, being able to demonstrate the benefits of almonds in college "breakfast skippers" would have significant implications for young adults in their first year of college, and thus, provide an ideal opportunity to further address this line of inquiry. Lastly, the application of metabolomic and lipidomic approaches to better assess the mechanisms regulating carbohydrates and lipids in an almond-based study has not been performed. Advancements in high-throughput analytical techniques have initiated a renaissance in the study of metabolism on a grand scale that allow for robust assessment of nutritional status and cellular responses. These approaches provide an advantage of mapping metabolites in such a fashion that changes in mechanisms can be elucidated as demonstrated by the SuGAR Project.
Study Design
Arms and Interventions
Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
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Experimental: Almond group 2 oz. of almonds everyday for 8 weeks |
Dietary Supplement: Almonds
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Active Comparator: Control group Isoenergetic control group 5 graham cracker sheets everyday for 8 weeks |
Dietary Supplement: Graham crackers
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Outcome Measures
Primary Outcome Measures
- Change in fasting blood glucose [Change from baseline at 8 weeks]
- 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test [At the end of 8 week intervention]
- Change in fasting blood insulin [Change from baseline at 8 weeks]
- Change in stool microbiome profiles [Change from baseline at 8 weeks]
Secondary Outcome Measures
- Weight [Every 2 weeks over the 8 week intervention]
- Body composition [Every 2 weeks over the 8 week intervention]
- Waist circumference [Every 2 weeks over the 8 week intervention]
- Blood pressure [Every 2 weeks over the 8 week intervention]
- 24-hour appetite ratings [Baseline, 4 weeks into intervention and end of 8 week intervention]
- Hip circumference [Every 2 weeks over the 8 week intervention]
- Flow Mediated Dilation (FMD) [At the end of 8 week intervention]
As a measure of endothelial function
- Urinary 8-isoprostane [Baseline and end of 8 week intervention]
- Urinary electrolytes [Baseline and end of 8 week intervention]
- Urinary angiotensinogen [Baseline and end of 8 week intervention]
- Urinary creatinine clearance [Baseline and end of 8 week intervention]
- Fasting lipid profile [Baseline, 4 weeks into intervention and end of 8 week intervention]
- Physical activity [Baseline, 4 weeks into intervention and end of 8 week intervention]
Research Tracker 6 (RT6) accelerometers
- Hepatic glucose metabolism [End of 8 week intervention]
Isotopic dilution
Eligibility Criteria
Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria:
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18-22 years of age
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Newly enrolled, 1st-year college students at University of California, Merced
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Willing to eat almonds and study snacks
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Willing to comply with the study protocol
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Consistent diet and activity patterns
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Non-smoker >1 year or more
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Exclusion Criteria:
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Nut allergies
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Illicit drug use
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Medications that affect metabolism or appetite
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Anti-inflammatory medications, analgesics and antibiotics
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Diabetes or pre-diabetes, uncontrolled hypertension, cardiovascular disease or dyslipidemia requiring drug therapy
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Gastrointestinal disease and/or bariatric surgery
Contacts and Locations
Locations
Site | City | State | Country | Postal Code | |
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1 | University of California, Merced | Merced | California | United States | 95343 |
Sponsors and Collaborators
- University of California, Merced
Investigators
- Principal Investigator: Rudy Ortiz, PhD, UNIV OF CALIFORNIA MERCED
Study Documents (Full-Text)
None provided.More Information
Additional Information:
- Childhood Obes. The Lancet.
- What do college students eat? Food selection and meal pattern
- Nuts for diabetes prevention and management
- Adolescent Health in the United States, 2007
- Reduced physical activity levels associated with obesity in rural Hispanic adolescent females.
Publications
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- Li SC, Liu YH, Liu JF, Chang WH, Chen CM, Chen CY. Almond consumption improved glycemic control and lipid profiles in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Metabolism. 2011 Apr;60(4):474-9. doi: 10.1016/j.metabol.2010.04.009. Epub 2010 May 23.
- Luo C, Zhang Y, Ding Y, Shan Z, Chen S, Yu M, Hu FB, Liu L. Nut consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Clin Nutr. 2014 Jul;100(1):256-69. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.113.076109. Epub 2014 May 21. Review.
- Mokdad AH, Serdula MK, Dietz WH, Bowman BA, Marks JS, Koplan JP. The spread of the obesity epidemic in the United States, 1991-1998. JAMA. 1999 Oct 27;282(16):1519-22.
- Mori AM, Considine RV, Mattes RD. Acute and second-meal effects of almond form in impaired glucose tolerant adults: a randomized crossover trial. Nutr Metab (Lond). 2011 Jan 28;8(1):6. doi: 10.1186/1743-7075-8-6.
- Quehenberger O, Armando AM, Brown AH, Milne SB, Myers DS, Merrill AH, Bandyopadhyay S, Jones KN, Kelly S, Shaner RL, Sullards CM, Wang E, Murphy RC, Barkley RM, Leiker TJ, Raetz CR, Guan Z, Laird GM, Six DA, Russell DW, McDonald JG, Subramaniam S, Fahy E, Dennis EA. Lipidomics reveals a remarkable diversity of lipids in human plasma. J Lipid Res. 2010 Nov;51(11):3299-305. doi: 10.1194/jlr.M009449. Epub 2010 Jul 29.
- Rodriguez R, Mowrer J, Romo J, Aleman A, Weffer SE, Ortiz RM. Ethnic and gender disparities in adolescent obesity and elevated systolic blood pressure in a rural US population. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2010 Sep;49(9):876-84. doi: 10.1177/0009922810368135. Epub 2010 Jun 3.
- Smith KJ, Gall SL, McNaughton SA, Blizzard L, Dwyer T, Venn AJ. Skipping breakfast: longitudinal associations with cardiometabolic risk factors in the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Dec;92(6):1316-25. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2010.30101. Epub 2010 Oct 6.
- Tan SY, Mattes RD. Appetitive, dietary and health effects of almonds consumed with meals or as snacks: a randomized, controlled trial. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2013 Nov;67(11):1205-14. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2013.184. Epub 2013 Oct 2.
- Vella-Zarb RA, Elgar FJ. The 'freshman 5': a meta-analysis of weight gain in the freshman year of college. J Am Coll Health. 2009 Sep-Oct;58(2):161-6. doi: 10.1080/07448480903221392. Review.
- Wien MA, Sabaté JM, Iklé DN, Cole SE, Kandeel FR. Almonds vs complex carbohydrates in a weight reduction program. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2003 Nov;27(11):1365-72. Erratum in: Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2004 Mar;28(3):459.
- Zivkovic AM, German JB. Metabolomics for assessment of nutritional status. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2009 Sep;12(5):501-7. doi: 10.1097/MCO.0b013e32832f1916. Review.
- UCM2016-86