Sunday June 15, 2014 (foodconsumer.org) -- An earlier study led by D.J Jenkins at St. Michael's Hospital Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada and colleagues has found that monounsaturated fat in nuts lowers the risk of coronary heart disease in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

The same group of researchers also found evidence that also suggests eating a certain amount of nuts per day may actually cure type 2 diabetes mellitus.

This study shows that patients eating mixed nuts for three months reduced HbA(1c) by 0.21%, compared with those found in those who did not nuts. The study was published in Diabetes Care.

HbA(1c) is an indicator for the severity of type 2 diabetes mellitus.  Patients who have high levels of HbA(1c) are at worse control of the disease.

The amount of mixed nuts used per day was 475 kcal per day or 75 grams per day or in an amount that increased monounsaturated fat intake to 8.7% of total energy (2000 kcal), which is about 22 grams of monounsaturated fat per day.

For the study, 117 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were randomized to receive one of three treatments, supplementation with all nuts, half nuts and half muffins, and all muffins for three months.

As a result, the treatment with half nuts and half muffins or all muffins made no difference, either did not lower HbA(1c) significantly.

Supplementation with mixed nuts in a full nut dose indicated compared with all muffins was also found to significantly lower low density lipoprotein, the cholesterol that is considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. 

Half nuts and half muffins also lowered LDL cholesterol levels, but not as significantly, in the patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who are at high risk for heart disease.

The study concluded "Two ounces of nuts daily as a replacement for carbohydrate foods improved both glycemic control and serum lipids in type 2 diabetes."

Jenkins DJ, Kendall CW, Banach MS, Srichaikul K, Vidgen E, Mitchell S, Parker T, Nishi S, Bashyam B, de Souza R, Ireland C, Josse RG.  Nuts as a replacement for carbohydrates in the diabetic diet.  Diabetes Care. 2011 Aug;34(8):1706-11. doi: 10.2337/dc11-0338. Epub 2011 Jun 29.