Daily Almond Intake as a Preload Before Meals Versus as a Snack Between Meals Has Different Effects on Body Fat Percentages and the Lipid Profile in a Randomized Controlled Trial of Young Adults in South Korea

The current study was conducted to investigate the effects of daily almond intake on body composition, lipid profile, and oxidative and inflammation indicators among young Korean adults based on the timing of almond consumption. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) a pre-meal group (PM; n = 58) in which participants were instructed to consume 56 g of almonds per day as a preload when having regular meals; (2) a snack group (SN; n =55) in which participants were instructed to consume 56 g of almonds between meals as snacks; and (3) a control group (CL; n = 56) in which participants were provided high-carbohydrate iso-caloric control food. The three-day diet records, including two consecutive weekdays and one weekend day, were done once before the trial and twice during the trial. Body composition was assessed through multi-frequency whole-body bioimpedance measurement using InBody 620 (Biospace Co., Ltd, Seoul, Korea).After a 12-hour fast, blood samples were taken at the baseline time point (week 0) and at weeks 8 and 16 by standard venipuncture. The serum total cholesterol and triglycerides levels were measured by the enzymatic-colorimetric method using a Cobas 8000 c702 chemistry analyzer (Roche Diagnostics; Mannheim, Germany). HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels were determined via homogeneous enzymatic colorimetry.