Almond “Appetizer” Effect on Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT) Results

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Figure 1.
Mean results of the almond glucose tolerance test (GTT) vs a control GTT in glucose-intolerant patients (n = 20).
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Figure 2.
Glucose tolerance test results for the best responders to the almond preload.

Table 1.

Mean Glucose Tolerance Test Results and Potential Confounders

	Standard GTT	Almond GTT	Difference between Standard and Almond GTT, mg/dL (%)	Statistical Significance (2-Sided P Value)
Glucose (mg/dL)
Fasting	100.0 (9.3)	97.1 (8.3)	−2.9 (2.9)	.14
1-hr	191.7 (20.6)	154.6 (37.8)	−37.1 (19.4)	<.001
2-hr	138.0 (35.4)	118.5 (27.6)	−19.5 (14.1)	.02
Carbohydrate intake (g)	228.1 (88.6)	195.1 (73.3)	−33.0 (14.5)	.18
Physical activity (minutes)
Mean (SD)	94.6 (125.4)	117.9 (170.7)	+23.3 (24.6)	.15
Median	50	45	−5 (10)	NA
Perceived stress level	17.5 (5.6)	15.9 (4.9)	−1.6 (9.1)	.20

Data are mean (standard deviation [SD]) unless otherwise indicated. Bold values indicate statistically significant difference.
GTT, glucose tolerance test; NA, not available.

Table 2.

Individual Glucose Tolerance Test Results (mg/dL)

Participant	Fasting Glucose		1-Hour Glucose		2-Hour Glucose
Participant	Standard	Almond	Standard	Almond	Standard	Almond
1	92	94	178	91	106	93
2	104	100	214	192	156	173
3	83	86	179	87	182	86
4	102	106	194	170	152	139
5	122	105	178	133	115	92
6	97	87	169	164	86	91
7	101	97	167	174	81	120
8	114	117	208	105	179	101
9	94	93	166	156	131	126
10	97	97	230	216	191	167
11	90	99	185	190	110	109
12	97	96	201	152	116	86
13	93	95	173	159	141	102
14	95	94	162	133	162	138
15	100	105	212	102	185	100
16	107	89	216	153	138	126
17	117	105	212	213	182	172
18	95	104	209	162	141	121
19	99	87	176	144	124	119
20	100	85	204	195	82	109

Table 3.

Characteristics of Positive Responders to the Almond Preload^*

	ID	Age (years)	Sex	Race	Ethnicity	BMI (kg/m²)	HbA_1c	FamHxDM^{^†}	Insurance
Marked hypoglycemic response	2	48	Male	White	Non-Hispanic	25	5.8	0	Private
	4	75	Male	AA	Non-Hispanic	33	6.3	0.5	Private
	6	71	Male	White	Non-Hispanic	29	6.3	0	Medicare
	11	46	Male	White	Non-Hispanic	37	6.1	0.5	Private
	17	78	Female	White	Hispanic	22	6.3	0	Medicare
	28	67	Female	White	Hispanic	31	6.0	1.0	Medicare
	30	90	Male	White	Non-Hispanic	23	5.3¹	1.5	Medicare
	40	45	Female	White	Hispanic	28	5.9	0	Medicaid
Moderate hypoglycemic response	4	67	Female	White	Non-Hispanic	30	6.4	0.63	Medicare
	14	18	Female	White	Hispanic	36	6.0	0.75	Uninsured
	19	70	Male	White	Hispanic	26	5.7	0	Medicare
	20	38	Male	White	Non-Hispanic	36	6.3	0.5	Private

↵* Random glucose of 145 mg/dL led to recruitment into the study, with a subsequent abnormal baseline glucose tolerance test.
↵† Values for each relative: 1st degree (parent/sibling/child) = 0.5; 2nd degree (grandparent, grandchild, uncle, aunt) = 0.25; 3rd degree (1st cousin, great grandparent, great grandchild, great aunt or uncle) = 0.125.
AA, African American; BMI, body mass index; FamHxDM, family history of diabetes.