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I love pistachios, so when I heard today that new research done at Penn State indicated that eating pistachios may reduce the body's response to everyday stress, I was all ears.
Subjects in the study were provided three distinct controlled diets for a period of 4 weeks each. All three diets were based on a standard heart healthy diet containing measured amounts of fat. "The diets included a Step I Diet – a standard heart healthy diet with 25 percent fat and 8 percent saturated fat, a diet containing 1.5 ounces of pistachios that was a Step I Diet with 30 percent total fat and 8 percent saturated fat and a diet containing 3 ounces of pistachios that was a Step I Diet containing 34 percent fat and 8 percent saturated fat. At the end of each four-week diet regime, the researchers measured blood pressure and total peripheral vascular resistance at rest and during two stress tests."
"The researchers found that both pistachio containing diets reduced the stress effects on blood pressure, but that the 1.5 ounce pistachio diet reduced systolic blood pressure by 4.8 millimeters of mercury while the 3-ounce pistachio diet only reduced systolic blood pressure by 2.4 millimeters of mercury. The diets had no effect on normal, resting blood pressure."
It's always surprising the power some foods can have. If you're interested in more info:
http://www.whatsnextnetwork.com/health/index.php/2007/05/01/p5369#more53...
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