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Almond Board of California 20 Did you know? ABC conducts composition testing each year and with the development of new varieties will do more comprehensive testing in the future. 1997 ABC Begins Funding Allergen Research Nut, particularly peanut, allergies were of growing concern among consumers and food companies. ABC sought to better understand the nature of almond allergens and funded three researchers – Dr. Teuber, Dr. Sathe, Dr. Gradziel – who led a coordinated effort to study almond characteristics. 1998 First ABC-Funded Study Published: "Nuts and plasma lipids: An almond diet lowers LDL-C while preserving HDL-C" 2 "ABC's Nutrition Research program and Dr. Lapsley have been pivotal to the success of the industry. The heart health research, specifically, was monumental in positioning almonds as being heart healthy at a time when almonds were wrongly considered unhealthy by many health professionals." — Craig Duerr member, ABC Global Market Development Committee 1998 ABC Begins Funding Almond Composition Research To provide industry, food companies, the USDA National Nutrient Database and others the most accurate information on almond composition, ABC began strictly analyzing almonds sent to clinical trials to confirm their quality, ensuring no nuts could provide false data via abnormal traits. ABC Begins Funding Diabetes Research Once initial research discovered nuts' ability to positively impact blood glucose levels and the risk of heart disease, a next logical step was to consider daily almond snacking's positive impact on those with diabetes or prediabetes. Today, because of diabetes studies funded by ABC, we know that the nutritional value of almonds makes them a smart snack for those with impaired glucose tolerance or Type 2 diabetes. Diabetes varies in different populations. ABC has conducted research in populations with diabetic, prediabetic and metabolic conditions living in North America, Taiwan, India, and is today conducting research in the most challenging population – Southeast Asia – where people tend to get diabetes at an earlier age. 2002 ABC Begins Funding Portfolio Diet Studies This research allowed ABC and health professionals to better understand how almonds help manage cholesterol levels. As a result of this research, a recommendation of consuming one ounce of almonds per day was included in the Portfolio Eating Plan, a groundbreaking dietary approach that seeks to maximize the potential for lowering cholesterol. "This research was the driving force behind many years of outreach to health professionals globally, who responded so well to it because the almond industry was funding and sharing research about an entire way of eating, not just a single food, which was revolutionary at the time. Over several years, this research created more news about the impact of regular consumption of almonds than any other research project." — Stacey Humble former director of Global Market Development, ABC First Published Paper on How Almonds Can Help You Lose Weight 3 This research helped further rewrite the narrative around fats by showing that if you ate nuts you could actually lose weight, as nuts help you feel full (satiety) and curb your cravings. These findings led to more weight-related studies in the U.S. and the UK. Continue on page 21 Fast Forward: To date, there are 19+ published research papers on almonds and diabetes. Weight Loss 2 Spiller, G.A., D.J.A. Jenkins, O. Bosello, J.E. Gates, L.N. Cragen, B. Bruce. 1998. Nuts and plasma lipids: An almond diet lowers LDL-C while preserving HDL-C. J. Am. Coll. Nutr. 17(3):285-290. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9627917 3 Fraser, G.E., H.W. Bennett, K.B. Jaceldo-Siegl, J. Sabaté. 2002. Effect on body weight of a free 76 kilojoule (320 calorie) daily supplement of almonds for six months. J. Am. Coll. Nutr. 21(3):275-283.