The benefits of nuts have been widely demonstrated in various scientific studies. Now a new analysis has shown that a healthy diet supplemented with pistachioslowers blood pressure and heart rate in stressful situations, according to a study published in the journalHypertension.
The researchers, from Pennsylvania State University (USA), conducted the trial with non-smoking adults who followed low-fat diets and with different amounts of pistachios. The results indicated that participants on diets that included these nuts experienced reductions in blood pressure, peripheral vascular resistance, and heart rate under acute stress.
“Daily events like job stress, a short time to do a job, or speak in public can increase blood pressure, and we know thatwe can’t avoid all the stressors in our lives“says Sheila West, one of the authors.” The results of this study are important because they show that the foods we eat influence physiological responses to stress. “
Pistachio is a food with many nutritional properties. It is rich in vitamin E, vitamin B6 and B1, as well as containing minerals such asmagnesium, iron and potassium. It also has a high content offiber, so it helps improve intestinal transit and fight obesity.
“These results are very promising because they show that pistachios also have beneficial effects on another risk factor for cardiovascular disease,” adds Penny M. Kris-Etherton, another author. “The results of our previous studies indicate that adding pistachios to a healthy diet reduces LDL cholesterol concentrations in a dose-dependent manner and increases antioxidant concentrations in the blood.”
