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European Journal of Nutrition
Published in: European Journal of Nutrition 1/2022

01-02-2022 | Arterial Occlusive Disease | Original Contribution

Tree nut consumption and prevalence of carotid artery plaques: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study

Authors: Ania Stolarczyk, R. Curtis Ellison, Donna Arnett, Luc Djousse

Published in: European Journal of Nutrition | Issue 1/2022

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Abstract

Purpose

While tree nut consumption has been shown to be cardioprotective, a few studies have examined the relationship between tree nut consumption and carotid atherosclerosis. We tested the hypothesis that tree nut consumption would be inversely related with carotid atherosclerosis in adults.

Methods

We cross-sectionally analyzed data from 4536 participants of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Family Heart Study conducted in the United States. Dietary patterns among participants were variable, tree nut consumption was self-reported using the Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), and B-mode ultrasound of the carotid arteries was used to assess for the presence of carotid artery plaques (primary outcome) and carotid intima media thickness (cIMT). Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of prevalent carotid artery plaques and linear regression was used to estimate adjusted mean cIMT across categories of nut consumption.

Results

The mean age was 52.3 years (SD = 13.6), 95.6% of the participants were white, and 54% were female. The median tree nut intake was 1–3 servings/month. Odds ratios (95% CI) for prevalent carotid artery plaques were 1.0 (reference), 1.03 [0.86, 1.4], 0.89 [0.70, 1.13], and 0.96 [0.73, 1.26] for tree nut consumption of almost never, 1–3 times/month, 1/week, and 2+/week, respectively, adjusting for age, sex, race, field center, BMI, smoking status, alcohol consumption, creatinine, energy intake, fruit and vegetable consumption, exercise, and education. In secondary analysis, there was a suggestive inverse association of tree nut consumption with cIMT in the internal carotid artery, but not the common carotid or bifurcation.

Conclusion

Our data showed no association between tree nut consumption and prevalence of carotid artery plaques in adults.
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Metadata
Title
Tree nut consumption and prevalence of carotid artery plaques: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study
Authors
Ania Stolarczyk
R. Curtis Ellison
Donna Arnett
Luc Djousse
Publication date
01-02-2022
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
European Journal of Nutrition / Issue 1/2022
Print ISSN: 1436-6207
Electronic ISSN: 1436-6215
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-021-02640-x

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