Lifestyle Counseling and Supplementation with Flaxseed or Walnuts Influence the Management of Metabolic Syndrome

Abstract

A healthy lifestyle may ameliorate metabolic syndrome (MetS); however, it remains unclear if incorporating nuts or seeds into lifestyle counseling (LC) has additional benefit. A 3-arm, randomized, controlled trial was conducted among 283 participants screened for MetS using the updated National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria for Asian Americans. Participants were assigned to a LC on the AHA guidelines, LC + flaxseed (30 g/d) (LCF), or LC + walnuts (30 g/d) (LCW) group. After the 12-wk intervention, the prevalence of MetS decreased significantly in all groups: -16.9% (LC), -20.2% (LCF), and -16.0% (LCW). The reversion rate of MetS, i.e. those no longer meeting the MetS criteria at 12 wk, was not significantly different among groups (LC group, 21.1%; LCF group, 26.6%; and LCW group, 25.5%). However, the reversion rate of central obesity was higher in the LCF (19.2%; P = 0.008) and LCW (16.0%; P = 0.04) groups than in the LC group (6.3%). Most of the metabolic variables (weight, waist circumference, serum glucose, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, apolipoprotein (Apo) B, ApoE, and blood pressure) were significantly reduced from baseline in all 3 groups. However, the severity of MetS, presented as the mean count of MetS components, was significantly reduced in the LCW group compared with the LC group among participants with confirmed MetS at baseline (P = 0.045). Our results suggest that a low-intensity lifestyle education program is effective in MetS management. Flaxseed and walnut supplementation may ameliorate central obesity. Further studies with larger sample sizes and of longer duration are needed to examine the role of these foods in the prevention and management of MetS.

Beneficial Effect of Pistachio Consumption on Glucose Metabolism, Insulin Resistance, Inflammation, and Related Metabolic Risk Markers: A Randomized Clinical Trial

“…Our results are in agreement with those previously published on overweight and metabolic syndrome individuals (31,34,35) and support the hypothesis that the lipid profile of metabolic syndrome subjects is less likely to undergo changes because alteration in the cholesterol homeostasis inherent to the obese state makes them resistant to downregulating cholesterol (36).…”

Effects of flaxseed supplements on blood pressure: A systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled clinical trial

“…2 and 3). The estimated effect size for the impact of flaxseed products on DBP was robust in the leave-one-out sensitivity analysis whilst the SBP-lowering effect was marginally sensitive to three studies [25,26,35] (Figs. 2 and 3).…”

Efeito do ácido graxo ômega 3 no tratamento da esteatohepatite não alcoólica (EHNA): estudo randomizado placebo controlado

“…Além disso, outro estudo sugere que suplementação de linhaça ou nozes, pode melhorar a obesidade central (Wu et al, 2010) …”

“…O ALA é mais disponível em nosso meio, de menor custo e utilizado atualmente na forma de grãos de linhaça, farinha, adicionado a alimentos ou na forma de suplementos alimentares em cápsula, como sendo boa fonte de gordura polinsaturada, com estudos que sugerem redução de obesidade central, triglicérides e melhora da glicemia (Pan et al, 2007;Bloedon et al, 2008;Wu et al, 2010).…”

“…de diabetes e doença cardíaca coronária, diminuição do colesterol LDL, melhorando a sensibilidade à insulina em adultos com hiperlipidemia, melhorando o controle glicêmico de pacientes diabéticos tipo 2 e redução de comorbidades relacionadas à obesidade, que são importantes comorbidades relacionadas à fisiopatologia da EHNA (Pan et al, 2007;Bloedon et al, 2008;Wu et al, 2010;Fukumitsu et al, 2013 Estes resultados podem ser relevantes, levando-se em consideração que os pacientes com EHNA apresentam menores valores de AGPI e quantidades mais elevadas de AGPI n-6, bem como o aumento da razão AGPI n-6 / n-3 no fígado, em comparação com indivíduos saudáveis, o que sugere possível papel de desequilíbrio desses ácidos graxos na fisiopatologia da EHNA (Araya et al, 2004).…”