![]() You can still boost your omega-3 intake a little by sprinkling a handful of pine nuts onto your pasta or adding them as a crunchy element on top of avocado toast ( 20). This process is not very efficient in humans. The type of omega-3s in pine nuts is ALA, which is considered essential, but your body has to convert it to the more useful forms, EPA and DHA. According to the National Institutes of Health, the recommended daily intake for adults is 1.1 grams for females and 1.6 grams for males ( 12, 18). Pine nuts are a source of omega-3s, containing 31.4 mg per ounce (28 grams). ![]() Unfortunately, a large portion of the world’s population is not consuming enough omega-3s. There are three types of omega-3s: alpha linoleic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) ( 18).ĮPA and DHA assist in preserving brain health by contributing to slower cognitive decline and reduced risk of dementia and depressive symptoms ( 19). Omega-3s are essential fatty acids that you need to consume through your diet. These effects could be due to the healthy fats, phenolic compounds, or manganese that pine nuts contain. There are many mechanisms through which pine nuts could help regulate blood sugar levels and thus reduce diabetes risk. More studies are needed to understand the process through which manganese and phenolic compounds work to minimize diabetes risk. It is believed that manganese, in addition to phenolic compounds, reduces ROS, which contributes to the activation of stress pathways in the body that result in the progression of diabetes ( 9, 13, 15). However, this is based on animal studies, and human studies are limited ( 14). The phenolic compounds found in pine nuts may help lower reactive oxygen species (ROS) found in the body and therefore improve blood glucose control. These studies looked at a variety of tree nuts - not pine nuts specifically - but pine nuts deliver unsaturated fats and some protein and fiber, so they may have similar effects to the other tree nuts ( 12).Īdditionally, 1 ounce (28 grams) of pine nuts provides 109% of the Daily Value for the mineral manganese, which is linked with a lower risk of diabetes ( 12).Ī study with more than 10,000 participants found that those who consumed a higher-than-adequate amount of manganese (4.5 mg/day) had a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes ( 13).įurthermore, pine nuts deliver polyphenols, or phenolic compounds, that have antioxidant activities and other health-promoting benefits ( 13). They concluded that, on average, eating 2 ounces per day (56 grams) of tree nuts over a period of 8 weeks contributed to an improvement in fasting blood glucose levels and insulin sensitivity ( 11). In a 2014 review, researchers analyzed multiple studies on the effect of tree nut consumption on diabetic markers in people with type 2 diabetes ( 11). Replacing a carb-rich food with unsaturated fats (such as those found in pine nuts) may have beneficial effects on blood sugar levels ( 10). ![]() Animal studies have shown that consumption of pine nut extract may contribute to a decrease in fasting blood glucose levels ( 9). ![]()
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