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Brazil nut consumption promotes satiety without increasing blood glucose and insulin responses in healthy adults

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Abstract

Purpose

Brazil nuts are rich in important nutrients including unsaturated fatty acids and fiber and are the highest known food source of selenium. Selenium has exhibited a multitude of health benefits including increased antioxidant capacity, improvement of lipid profiles, insulin and glucose responses, and elevation of mood. The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of Brazil nut consumption on postprandial satiety, glucose, insulin, antioxidant activity, and anxiety in healthy subjects.

Methods

In a crossover design with two trials, 22 healthy adults (age 25 ± 4.94 years, BMI 22.3 ± 3.29 kg/m2) consumed pretzels (36 g) and isocaloric, sodium-matched Brazil nuts (20 g), separated by a 48-h washout period. A visual analogue scale measured satiety at baseline, 20 and 40 min after snack consumption. Anxiety (via modified STAI), blood glucose, insulin, and antioxidant levels were measured at baseline and 40 min.

Results

Both the Brazil nuts and pretzels increased satiety with greater satiety in Brazil nuts compared to pretzels (P = 0.049). Each snack also decreased anxiety (P = 0.020) from baseline to 40 min post-consumption with no significant differences between the two trials. Pretzel consumption caused a significant increase in blood glucose and insulin (P < 0.001) at 40 min post-consumption compared to baseline, while Brazil nut consumption did not significantly increase either level.

Conclusion

Brazil nut consumption improved postprandial satiety and stabilized glucose and insulin responses compared to baseline, which warrants further studies on reducing overall food intake and preventing cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and weight gain.

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Availability of data and material

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author (mhong2@sdsu.edu).

Abbreviations

ABTS:

2,2′-Azino-di-[3-ethylbenzthiazoline sulphonate]

BMI:

Body mass index

ELISA:

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

GPx:

Glutathione peroxidase

Se:

Selenium

STAI:

State-Trait Anxiety Inventory

VAS:

Visual analogue scale

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the contributions of all participants for the study and the students of N302 L Advanced Nutrition Laboratory class students at San Diego State University for their help on sample collection.

Funding

This study was funded by the American Heart Association (16GRNT31360007).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 92182, USA

    Alison Rosenstock, Megan Connolly, Rebecca Weller & Mee Young Hong

Authors
  1. Alison Rosenstock
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  2. Megan Connolly
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  3. Rebecca Weller
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Contributions

A.R., M.C., R.W., and M.Y.H. collected and analyzed the data, A.R., M.C. and R.W. wrote the first draft of the manuscript, A.R. and M.Y.H. edited subsequent drafts of the manuscript. All authors reviewed and agreed on the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mee Young Hong.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no conflict(s) of interest.

Ethical approval

The study protocol was approved by the San Diego State University Institutional Review Board for the protection of human subjects, and all participants provided informed written consent prior to their participation (Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT03956602).

Consent for publication

All authors are in agreement with the manuscript and declare that the content has not been published elsewhere except conference abstract.

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Rosenstock, A., Connolly, M., Weller, R. et al. Brazil nut consumption promotes satiety without increasing blood glucose and insulin responses in healthy adults. Nutrire 45, 3 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41110-019-0108-3

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