A Randomized Study of the Effects of Additional Fruit and Nuts Consumption on Hepatic Fat Content, Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Basal Metabolic Rate.

BACKGROUND:Fruit has since long been advocated as a healthy source of many nutrients, however, the high content of sugars in fruit might be a concern. OBJECTIVES:To study effects of an increased fruit intake compared with similar amount of extra calories from nuts in humans. METHODS:Thirty healthy non-obese participants were randomized to either supplement the diet with fruits or nuts, each at +7 kcal/kg bodyweight/day for two months. Major endpoints were change of hepatic fat content (HFC, by magnetic resonance imaging, MRI), basal metabolic rate (BMR, with indirect calorimetry) and cardiovascular risk markers. RESULTS:Weight gain was numerically similar in both groups although only statistically significant in the group randomized to nuts (fruit: from 22.15 ± 1.61 kg/m(2) to 22.30 ± 1.7 kg/m(2), p = 0.24 nuts: from 22.54 ± 2.26 kg/m(2) to 22.73 ± 2.28 kg/m(2), p = 0.045). On the other hand BMR increased in the nut group only (p = 0.028). Only the nut group reported a net increase of calories (from 2519 ± 721 kcal/day to 2763 ± 595 kcal/day, p = 0.035) according to 3-day food registrations. Despite an almost three-fold reported increased fructose-intake in the fruit group (from 9.1 ± 6.0 gram/day to 25.6 ± 9.6 gram/day, p