Walnuts Increase Good Cholesterol (HDL-Cholesterol) and Prevent Coronary Artery Disease

Back ground: Hyperlipidemia is one of the important risk factor to develop coronary artery disease (CAD) leading to main cause of morbidity and mortality due to heart attack and cardiac arrhythmias. Decreased level of plasma HDL-cholesterol independently can cause CAD. Recent studies have proved that walnuts can increase plasma HDL-cholesterol if taken in specific amount per day regularly Place and duration of study: Lahore General Hospital, Lahore from January 2014 to April 2014. Methodology: The baseline values of HDL-cholesterol were measured at day-0 and day-60 by separating other lipoprotein fractions using chemical precipitation with Mg2+, then coupling the products of a cholesterol oxidase reaction. Forty hyperlipidemic patients were selected from Lahore General Hospital for the study. Age of patients ranged from 20 to 65 years. Both gender male and female patients were enrolled. They were advised to discontinue any hypolipidemic medications and foods. Patients suffering from any metabolic disease, renal impairment, liver disease, and already having any cardiac problems were excluded from the research study. Forty patients were divided in two groups, twenty individuals in each group. Group-1 was advised to take 30 grams of walnuts (without shell) per day for the period of eight weeks. Group-II was considered as control group and was advised not to take any dry fruit including walnuts. Results: In twenty hyperlipidemic patients, two months therapy with 30 grams of walnuts per day increase in HDL-cholesterol was 6.3 mg/dl which was significant change when analyzed biostatistically, showing p-value < 0.01. Statistical analysis: Mean values with SD and SEM were analysed statistically by using SPSS version 16.1. P-value of < 0.001 was considered as significant and p-value of > 0.05 was considered as nonsignificant change. Conclusion: It was concluded that regular intake of specific amount of walnuts without shell can increase good cholesterol (HDL-cholesterol) in male and female patients of age range from 18-65 yrs.