Washington: Researchers have recently revealed that eating Pistachios may help type 2 diabetic patients in curbing vascular response to everyday life stress.
Sheila G. West, professor of biobehavioral health and nutritional sciences, said that in adults with diabetes, two servings of pistachios per day lowered body's response during stress and improved neural control of the heart.
She further explained that although nuts are high in fat, they contained good fats, fiber, potassium and antioxidants and given the high risk of heart disease in people with diabetes, nuts are an important component of a heart healthy diet in this population.
The study found that after the pistachio diet, blood vessels remained more relaxed and open during the stress tests. When arteries are dilated, the load on the heart would be reduced.
The researchers also recorded improvements in heart rate variability, a measure of how well the nervous system controls heart function. These data indicated that pistachios increased the activity of the vagus nerve, an important part of the parasympathetic nervous system that could be damaged with diabetes.
It was also suggested that if sustained with longer term treatment, these improvements in sleep blood pressure, vascular response to stress and vagal control of the heart could reduce risk of heart disease in this high risk group.
The study is published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
