title: Associations between nut consumption and inflammatory biomarkers.
abstract: Increased nut consumption has been associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, as well as a healthy lipid profile. However, the associations between nut consumption and inflammatory biomarkers are unclear.
  
  
  
  We investigated habitual nut consumption in relation to inflammatory biomarkers in 2 large cohorts of US men and women.
  
  
  
  We analyzed cross-sectional data from 5013 participants in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS) who were free of diabetes. Nut intake, defined as intake of peanuts and other nuts, was estimated from food-frequency questionnaires, and cumulative averages from 1986 and 1990 in the NHS and from 1990 and 1994 in the HPFS were used. Plasma biomarkers were collected in 1989-1990 in the NHS and 1993-1995 in the HPFS. Multivariate linear regression was used to assess the associations of nut consumption with fasting plasma C-reactive protein (CRP, n = 4941), interleukin 6 (IL-6, n = 2859), and tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (TNFR2, n = 2905).
  
  
  
  A greater intake of nuts was associated with lower amounts of a subset of inflammatory biomarkers, after adjusting for demographic, medical, dietary, and lifestyle variables. The relative concentrations (ratios) and 95% CIs comparing subjects with nut intake of ≥5 times/wk and those in the categories of never or almost never were as follows: CRP: 0.80 (0.69, 0.90), P-trend = 0.0003; and IL-6: 0.86 (0.77, 0.97), P-trend = 0.006. These associations remained significant after further adjustment for body mass index. No significant association was observed with TNFR2. Substituting 3 servings of nuts/wk for 3 servings of red meat, processed meat, eggs, or refined grains/wk was associated with significantly lower CRP (all P < 0.0001) and IL-6 (P ranges from 0.001 to 0.017).
  
  
  
  Frequent nut consumption was associated with a healthy profile of inflammatory biomarkers.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology, Section of Clinical Sciences, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA;
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Departments of Nutrition and.
authors.forename: Vasanti S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Malik
authors.affiliation: Departments of Nutrition and.
authors.forename: NaNa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Keum
authors.affiliation: Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; and.
authors.forename: Frank B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; and.
authors.forename: Edward L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Giovannucci
authors.affiliation: Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; and.
authors.forename: Meir J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Stampfer
authors.affiliation: Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; and.
authors.forename: Walter C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Willett
authors.affiliation: Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; and Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Charles S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.affiliation: Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; and ying.bao@channing.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D010367:Arachis; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D055951:Functional Food; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D018836:Inflammation Mediators / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses; D009754:Nuts; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012639:Seeds; D057566:Self Report; D014481:United States; D014657:Vasculitis / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D018836:Inflammation Mediators
keywords: inflammatory biomarkers; nuts; peanut butter; peanuts; substitution; tree nuts