According to the Spanish researchers, mixed nuts, with the Mediterranean daily diet, may help older people manage their metabolic syndrome, a group of related disorders included abdominal obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and abnormal blood sugar. “The results of the present study show that a non-energy-restricted traditional Mediterranean diet enriched with nuts, which is high in fat, high in unsaturated fat and palatable, is a useful tool in managing the metabolic syndrome,” they wrote in the Archives of Internal Medicine. 

Previous research suggests that moderate consumption of fish and alcohol, fewer intakes of dairy, meats and sweets and Mediterranean diet which include lots of cereals, fruits, vegetables, and olive oil, lowers the risk of metabolic syndrome. The new study also linked the diet to control the risk of diabetes, asthma and other conditions. 

Study was conducted on 1,224 people, aged 55 to 80, at high risk of heart disease. They were divided into three groups. One group received advice on a low-fat diet while other two groups followed a Mediterranean diet, one received one liter of olive oil per week and the other received 30 grams of mixed nuts daily. At the start of the study, 61.4 % of the participants met the criteria for metabolic syndrome but after one year, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome decreased by 13.7 % in the mixed nut group, by 6.7 % in the olive oil group, and by 2 % in the control group on a low-fat diet. Researchers noted that nuts contain many beneficial nutrients and high level of unsaturated fats similar to olive oil.