(OR26-06-23) Effects of Peanut Consumption on Endothelial Function in Older Adults With Elevated Blood Pressure or Stage 1 Hypertension

Objectives: Hypertensive individuals have a higher risk for endothelial dysfunction. Peanuts are a rich source of polyphenols, monounsaturated fats, protein and contain high amounts of niacin, folate, arginine, vitamin E, and thiamin. The present study examined the effects of peanut consumption on endothelial function in older adults with elevated blood pressure (BP) or stage 1 hypertension.

Methods: In this randomized-controlled trial, 50 men and women between the ages of 65-80 years were randomly assigned to consume 2 oz of peanuts daily (peanut group) or no peanuts/tree nuts (control group) for 12 weeks. A repeated measures mixed ANOVA model was utilized to examine the impact of group, time, and the interaction of group and time in men and women. Paired t-tests were performed to compare changes from baseline within the group.

Results: Overall, there was a significant main effect of group observed for aortic pulse pressure (PP) and aortic arterial pressure (p < 0.01), but without significant impacts of time and time x group interaction. When we further split the analysis by gender, the data showed evidence that there was a borderline significant time x group interaction effect observed for aortic systolic BP (p=0.06), aortic diastolic BP (p=0.09) and aortic mean arterial pressure (p=0.08) in men. In the female analysis, there was a significant main effect of group observed for aortic PP, and heart rate (p < 0.05), but without significant impacts of time and time x group interaction. Pulse wave velocity and flow-mediated dilation were not affected by the 12-week intervention in both groups. Within-group analysis showed that aortic diastolic BP and aortic mean arterial pressure significantly decreased by 5 mmHg and 6 mmHg (p < 0.05), respectively, while aortic systolic BP numerically decreased by 8 mmHg (p=0.08) in men after 12 weeks of peanut consumption compared with corresponding baseline values.

Conclusions: Our findings show that daily consumption of peanuts may reduce aortic BP in men. Larger follow-up studies are needed to ensure the validity of these findings.

Funding Sources: This research was funded by the Peanut Institute Foundation. Funders had no role in the study design, data collection, data analysis or interpretation, or writing of the abstract.