In a study published in Frontiers in Nutrition, researchers found that people who ate 2 ounces of almonds every day for a month had higher levels of a good type of fat called 12,13-dihydroxy-9Z-octadecenoic acid (12,13-DiHOME) in their blood after exercising intensely, compared to people who didn’t eat almonds. This special fat, called oxytocin, is made by brown fat tissue from linoleic acid and helps with metabolism and energy.
4 weeks of daily dietary supplementation with almonds increased the level of beneficial 12,13-DiHOME after exercise, benefiting recovery. For those who exercise regularly, eating almonds each day might be the ideal new year’s resolution. A randomized controlled trial in Frontiers in Nutrition showed that female and male participants who ate 2 ounces (57 grams) of almonds daily for one month had more of the beneficial fat 12,13-dihydroxy-9Z-octadecenoic acid (12,13-DiHOME) in their blood immediately after a session of intense exercise than control participants. This molecule, so-called oxytocin (oxidized fat), is synthesized from linoleic acid by brown fat tissue and has a beneficial effect on metabolic health and energy regulation. Corresponding author Dr. David C. Caiman, a professor and director of the Appalachian State University Human Performance Laboratory at the North Carolina Research Campus, said: "Here we show that volunteers who consumed 57 grams of almonds daily for one month before a single ‘weekend warrior’ exercise bout had more beneficial 12,13-DiHOME in their blood immediately after exercising than control volunteers. They also reported feeling less fatigue and tension, better leg-back strength, and decreased muscle damage after exercise than control volunteers."
Four-week dietary supplementation with almonds The clinical trial involved 38 men and 26 women between the ages of 30 and 65 who didn’t engage in regular weight training. Approximately half were randomized to the almond diet group and the other half to the control group, which daily ate a calorie-matched cereal bar. The researchers took blood and urine samples before and after the four-week period of dietary supplementation. Performance measures included a 30-second Win Gate anaerobic test, a 50-meter shuttle run test, and vertical jump, bench press, and leg-back strength exercises. Additional blood and urine samples were taken immediately after this 90-minute session of ‘eccentric exercise’ and daily for four days afterward. After each blood draw, the participants filled out the ‘Profile of Mood States’ (POMS) questionnaire to quantify their mental state and rate their delayed-onset muscle soreness—that is, pain and stiffness felt after unaccustomed or strenuous exercise—on a 10-interval scale. As expected, the 90-minute exercise led to an increase in the volunteers’ self-reported feelings of muscle damage and muscle soreness, as well as an increased POMS score, indicating self-reported decreased vigor and increased fatigue, anxiety, and depression. The exercise also resulted in transiently elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and MCP-1 in the blood, consistent with minor muscle damage. However, these changes in cytokines were equal in the almond and cereal bar groups. Differences in two Dido concentrations Importantly, immediately after exercise, the concentration of the beneficial 12,13-DiHOME was 69% higher in the blood plasma of participants in the almond group than in participants in the control group. 12,13-DiHOME is known to increase the transport of fatty acids and their uptake by skeletal muscle, with the overall effect of stimulating metabolic recovery after exercise. The reverse pattern was found for another oxytocin, the mildly toxic 9,10-Dihydroxy-12-octadecenoic acid (9,10-diHOME), which was 40% higher immediately after exercise in the blood of the control group than in the almond group. Unlike 12,13-DiHOME, 9,10-DiHOME has been shown to have negative effects on overall health and the body’s recovery from exercise. Polyphenols in almond skin may be key. Caiman and colleagues concluded that daily consumption of almonds leads to a change in metabolism, down regulating inflammation and oxidative stress from exercise and enabling the body to recover faster. "We conclude that almonds provide a unique and complex nutrient and polyphenol mixture that may support metabolic recovery from stressful levels of exercise. Almonds have high amounts of protein, healthy types of fat, vitamin E, minerals, and fiber. And the brown skin of almonds contains polyphenols that end up in the large intestine and help control inflammation and oxidative stress," said Caiman.
Reference: "Almond intake alters the acute plasma acid (HOME) response to eccentric exercise" by David C. Caiman, Ashraf M. Omar, Colin D. Kay, and Deepak M. Keynote, Camila A. Yamaguchi, Lava, Mari Must, and Robin Zhang, January 9, 2023, Frontiers in Nutrition, DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2022.1042719
Funding: Almond Board of California, Modesto, CA
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