Pistachios improve insulin resistance and inflammatory markers

This article presents a study showing that eating pistachios improves glucose and inflammatory markers among prediabetics.

Many do not know that they have prediabetes. Prediabetes is when the fasting blood sugar is 100 to 125 mg/dl or if the after-meal blood sugar is more than 140 mg/dl.

Like diabetes, prediabetes increases the risk of cardiovascular disease due to the formation of atherosclerosis from inflammation.

After-meal high blood sugar predicts Atherosclerosis better than Fasting blood sugar and HbA1c

Cardiovascular diseases include strokes, heart attacks, arrhythmias, and heart failure.

Prediabetics can also progress to type 2 diabetes with all its complications from head to toe, primarily due to the destruction of the blood vessels.

That is why it makes sense to control blood sugar. One dietary intervention is by eating pistachios with meals.

A recent article showed that Pistachios decrease after-meal blood sugar. 

This time, another study showed the effects of eating pistachios for four months on glucose metabolism, insulin resistance, inflammation, and metabolic risk markers among prediabetics.

The participants added 2 ounces or 57 grams of pistachios to their food every day. The nuts were half-roasted and half roasted and salted.

In the control group, which did not have the pistachios, olive oil was added to compensate for the added fat in the pistachio group.

The study involved 54 subjects with prediabetes and lasted for four months. Here is what happened to the pistachio group.

Blood sugar decreased significantly. 

The pistachio group’s average fasting blood sugar decreased by 5.17 mg/100 ml. In contrast, it increased by 6.72 in the control group.

Insulin resistance improved.

Insulin is a hormone that makes the skeletal muscles and liver accept blood sugar or glucose. The muscles need glucose for muscle contraction while the liver stores them for future use.

Insulin resistance is when the typical amount of insulin is insufficient to lower blood sugar, and the resistance comes from the liver and skeletal muscles.

The result is that higher amounts of insulin must be produced to lower the sugar, and this creates a condition called hyperinsulinemia.

The problem is that excess insulin stimulates other organs and creates other disease conditions like obesity, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and metabolic syndrome. There is more in Hyperinsulinemia.

The insulin levels in the pistachio group were lower than in the control group. In addition, insulin resistance among the prediabetics also improved as measured by the HOMA-IR.

Less inflammation in the pistachio group.

Chronic inflammation is the underlying problem in atherosclerosis, hypertension, obesity, and hypertension.

Inflammation is mediated by cytokines or signaling molecules. Lymphocytes produce inflammatory cytokines in response to infections.

Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell that fight infections and prevent cancer.

However, even without infection, the lymphocytes can still cause inflammation. A previous study has shown that excessive glucose uptake into the cells can cause immune hyperactivity.

In the pistachio study, lower levels of glucose were seen in the lymphocytes, and that is due to the decreased amount of GLUT4, which transports glucose into cells.

The effect of the lower glucose uptake is evidenced by the decreased amounts of fibrinogen and platelet factor 4 among the pistachio groups.

Fibrinogen and platelet factor 4 are metabolic risk markers. Fibrinogen is a component of blood clots and a marker of systemic inflammation.

Platelet factor 4 promotes blood coagulation and inflammation.

Interleukin-6 and RETN were also reduced in the pistachio group.

Interleukin-6 is an inflammatory cytokine, and the RETN gene produces resistin and is called such because it is usually found in mice with insulin resistance.

The lower markers of inflammation are evident in the decreased oxidized LDL. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is also known as the ‘bad cholesterol.’

Once oxidized, the LDL enters the inner lining of the arteries and initiates inflammation and atherosclerosis.

In summary, pistachios added to meals can lower blood sugar, and insulin decreases inflammation, potentially reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes complications.

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Reference:

Hernández‐Alonso, Pablo, et al. “Beneficial Effect of Pistachio Consumption on Glucose Metabolism, Insulin Resistance, Inflammation, and Related Metabolic Risk Markers: A Randomized Clinical Trial.” Diabetes Care 37 (2014): 3098 – 3105.

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