Macadamia nuts can be included in heart he...(chers reported in the current issue of t...)

Individual calorie levels were used for each participant so that they did not gain or lose weight during the study. Both diets were matched for total fat, containing 33 percent calories from total fat. The Heart Healthy diet with macadamia nuts had 7 percent saturated fat, 18 percent monosaturated fat and 5 percent polyunsaturated fat. The standard American diet had 13 percent saturated fat, 11 percent monosaturated fat and 5 percent saturated fat.

"We found that the reduction in LDL or bad cholesterol we observed was greater than would be predicted by just the healthy fats in the nuts alone," says Griel. "This indicates that there is something else in the nuts that helps lower cholesterol."

The macadamia nut diet included macadamia nuts as a snack, mixed into meals, as a salad topping and in cookies and muffins. The total fat was the same in both diets. Macadamia nuts were substituted for other sources of fat and protein in the diet. Switching skim milk for 2 percent milk and adding some macadamia nuts kept fat levels even.

"I think the bottom line is that Macadamia nuts probably should be included in the list of nuts to have a qualified health claim," says Kris-Etherton.

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