published on www.telegraph.co.uk 01/05/07

Pistachios in the diet can significantly reduce cholesterol and help prevent narrowing of the arteries, according to researchers. One or two handfuls of the nuts can make a big enough difference to lower the risk of heart disease, say scientists. One or two handfuls of Pistachios a day can lower the risk of heart disease.

Volunteers who ate three ounces of pistachios a day for one month lowered their total blood cholesterol by 8.4 per cent.

Levels of "bad" cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), fell by 11.6 per cent.

The balance between LDL and "good" cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), was also changed. Participants on the pistachio diet had less LDL relative to HDL after four weeks.

HDL is protective rather than harmful and lower ratios between the two kinds of cholesterol are considered to be healthy. The volunteers were given pistachios as a daily snack and also had them incorporated into other foods.

The researcher Sarah Gebauer, from Pennsylvania State University, said: "Pistachio amounts of 1.5 ounces and three ounces - one to two handfuls - reduced risk for cardiovascular disease by significantly reducing LDL cholesterol levels and the higher dose significantly reduced lipoprotein ratios.

"We were pleased to see a difference between the two doses of pistachios for the lipoprotein ratios because it would appear that pistachios are causing the effect."

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At the start of the study participants ate an average American diet consisting of 35 per cent total fat and 11 per cent saturated fat for two weeks.

They were then put on to one of three different diets, all variants of a cholesterol-lowering, low-fat diet. One included no pistachios, the second 1.5 ounces of pistachios a day, and the third three ounces of pistachios a day.

Pistachios contain high amounts of the plant antioxidant lutein, normally found in dark leafy vegetables.

References:  Click here to read the above article online      Further reading  California Pistachio Commission