Media & press release

Media: Diari Digital URV – Publication date: 05/09/2024
https://diaridigital.urv.cat/es/impacto-frutos-secos-enfermedades-cronicas/

AN INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATION WILL STUDY THE IMPACT OF THE CONSUMPTION OF DRIED FRUITS IN THE PREVENTION OF CHRONIC DISEASES.
If it is determined that the consumption of nuts is beneficial, health professionals could include them in dietary recommendations and medical protocols.

A study led by the Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Pere Virgili, the Rovira i Virgili University and the University of Copenhagen will deepen our understanding of the impact of the intake of nuts in the prevention of chronic diseases. With more than a million participants from all over the world, the research team wants to promote a change on a global scale in the field of public health: get that dietary guidelines based on these foods are designed and that their recommendation forms part of the protocols of public health and doctors to attend to patients and prevent diseases.

The investigation, which began this February and will last three years, will study the relationship between the consumption of nuts and the state of health of a sample of people from almost all continents – Europe, the Americas, Asia and Oceania. It will do so to determine if the incorporation of these foods into the diet has any impact on the rates of occurrence, over the years, of chronic non-communicable diseases – cardiovascular, myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular accident, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases etc. It will also evaluate whether those who frequently consume nuts have a lower mortality risk.

“The data we currently have come from studies carried out in Europe and the United States, so they are not representative of what happens in other parts of the world; to design universal dietary recommendations it is necessary to work with data from different parts of the world”, explains Marta Guasch Ferré, co-leader of the investigation together with Jordi Salas Salvadó, principal investigator of the Food, Nutrition, Development and Mental Health Research Group (ANUT-DSM) of the IISPV-URV-BUSCA and CIBERobn (Instituto Carlos III).

As for the treatment of the collected data, a statistical tool called meta-analysis will be used, which allows for the analysis and comparison of information obtained from the 26 cohorts – using statistics. “Previous studies have used different techniques to analyze their data; therefore, it is difficult to compare them and determine whether nuts are convenient or not for the prevention of diseases,” explains Guasch.

At the same time, Jordi Salas considers that it is necessary to bring together the existing information, compiled in several previous studies, “to definitively understand what the scientific evidence tells us about the consumption of nuts in the context of disease prevention”. If it is determined that nuts are beneficial for the prevention of chronic diseases, given their versatility, health professionals could recommend their consumption and that their intake forms part of the medical protocols to attend to patients and prevent diseases.

This collaborative project called Nut Consumption and Prevention of Non-communicable Diseases: A Global Individual Participant Data Meta-analysis (NUTPOOL) is funded by the International Nut & Dried Fruit Council. The team includes the postdoctoral researchers from the University of Copenhagen Marta Trius Soler and Cristina Valle Hita, and the Rovira i Virgili University: Associate Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics Dr Nancy Babio and the senior postdoctoral researchers from the Human Nutrition Unit of the IISPV-URV, Sangeetha Shyam and Jesús Francisco García-Gavilán.

Spanish version of the press release
Font: Diari Digital URV – 05/09/2024
UNA INVESTIGACIÓN INTERNACIONAL ESTUDIARÁ EL IMPACTO DEL CONSUMO DE FRUTOS SECOS EN LA PREVENCIÓN DE ENFERMEDADES CRÓNICAS. Si se determinara que el consumo de frutos secos es beneficioso, los profesionales sanitarios podrían incluirlos en recomendaciones dietéticas y protocolos médicos.
https://diaridigital.urv.cat/es/impacto-frutos-secos-enfermedades-cronicas/