Almonds and Health Effects on Metabolism, Vascular Function and Cognition

Inclusion Criteria:

• Aged between 40-70 years
• Men and women
• BMI between 25-35 kg/m2 (overweight and obese)
• Being classified as having impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and/or impaired fastingglucose (IFG). IGT is defined according the criteria of the WHO and American DiabetesAssociation (ADA) as two-hour glucose concentrations of 7.8 to 11.0 mmol/l (140 to 199mg per dL) during the 75-g oral glucose tolerance test. IFG is defined as having afasting plasma glucose between 6.1 and 7.0 mmol/l (110 to 125 mg per dL) and atwo-hour glucose concentration below 7.8 mmol/l (140 mg per dL).
• Serum total cholesterol < 8.0 mmol/L (further testing is recommended for excessivehyperlipidemia [serum total cholesterol ≥ 8.0 mmol/L] according to the Standard forcardiovascular risk management of the Dutch general practitioners community [NHG])
• Serum triacylglycerol < 4.52 mmol/L
• No current smoker
• No diabetic patients
• No familial hypercholesterolemia
• No abuse of drugs
• Not more than 4 alcoholic consumption per day with a maximum of 21 per week
• Stable body weight (weight gain or loss < 3 kg in the past three months)
• No use of medication known to treat blood pressure, lipid or glucose metabolism
• No use of an investigational product within another biomedical intervention trialwithin the previous 1-month
• No severe medical conditions that might interfere with the study, such as epilepsy,asthma, kidney failure or renal insufficiency, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,inflammatory bowel diseases, auto inflammatory diseases and rheumatoid arthritis
• No active cardiovascular disease like congestive heart failure or cardiovascularevent, such as an acute myocardial infarction or cerebrovascular accident
• Willingness to give up being a blood donor from 8 weeks before the start of the study,during the study and for 4 weeks after completion of the study
• No difficult venipuncture as evidenced during the screening visit
• Willing to comply to study protocol during study
• Informed consent signed

Exclusion Criteria:

• Allergy or intolerance to almonds
• Serum total cholesterol ≥ 8.0 mmol/L
• Serum triacylglycerol ≥ 4.52 mmol/L
• Current smoker, or smoking cessation <12 months
• Diabetic patients
• Familial hypercholesterolemia
• Abuse of drugs
• More than 4 alcoholic consumptions per day or 21 per week
• Unstable body weight (weight gain or loss > 3 kg in the past three months)
• Use medication known to treat blood pressure, lipid or glucose metabolism
• Use of an investigational product within another biomedical intervention trial withinthe previous 1-month
• Severe medical conditions that might interfere with the study, such as epilepsy,asthma, kidney failure or renal insufficiency, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,inflammatory bowel diseases, auto inflammatory diseases and rheumatoid arthritis
• Active cardiovascular disease like congestive heart failure or cardiovascular event,such as an acute myocardial infarction or cerebrovascular accident
• Not willing to give up being a blood donor from 8 weeks before the start of the study,during the study or for 4 weeks after completion of the study
• Not or difficult to venipuncture as evidenced during the screening visit
• Use of over-the-counter and prescribed medication or supplements, which may interferewith study measurements to be judged by the principal investigator;
• Use of oral antibiotics in 40 days or less prior to the start of the study;
• Blood donation in the past 3 months before the start of the study
• Not willing to comply to study protocol during study or sign informed consent