Dr. Oliver C. Witard, Senior Lecturer in Exercise Metabolism and Nutrition at King’s College London, set out to investigate the impact of daily almond snacking on muscle damage and cardiometabolic health outcomes during short-term recovery from eccentric exercise in mildly overweight, middle-aged adults.
Chronic almond nut snacking alleviates perceived muscle soreness following downhill running but does not improve indices of cardiometabolic health in mildly overweight, middle-aged, adults.
“ "Sticking to an exercise routine is not easy, so finding dietary strategies to help people be – and stay – physically active is important for public health. Our preliminary findings are encouraging in showing that almond snacking may promote adherence to new training programs among people who are unaccustomed to exercise.”
Study participants:
This randomized crossover study included 25 middle-aged, non-smoking men and women who were mildly overweight and occasionally physically active but were not trained athletes.
Study design:
The participants performed a 30-minute downhill treadmill run test after eight weeks of consuming 57g (two ounces) of whole almonds daily. The control group ate a calorie-matched (86g/three ounces) snack of unsalted pretzels.
The treadmill test was designed to cause muscle damage to see how almonds affected muscle recovery. Researchers measured participants’ perceived muscle soreness, muscle function (measured via a muscle contraction test and a vertical jump physical task) and blood markers of muscle damage/inflammation (creatine kinase and c-reactive protein) before and at 3 timepoints (24, 48 and 72 hours) after the treadmill run. They also measured markers of cardiometabolic health, body composition, and psycho-social assessments of mood, appetite, and well-being at baseline and after eight weeks of almond snacking.
Study results:
Study limitations:
This study included non-smoking participants who were mildly overweight and occasionally physically active but were not trained athletes. A limitation of this study is that the results are not generalizable to populations with other demographic and health characteristics.
Study conclusions:
Snacking on almonds for eight weeks reduced perceived feelings of muscle soreness during acute recovery from muscle-damaging exercise, resulting in better maintenance of muscle functional capacity. This study suggests that almonds are a functional food snack that may help improve exercise tolerance in mildly overweight, middle-aged adults.