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Penny Kris-Etherton - Pennsylvania State University. University Park, PA, UNITED STATES

Penny Kris-Etherton

DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF NUTRITION, Nutritional Sciences | Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA, UNITED STATES

Penny Kris-Etherton is a distinguished professor of nutrition

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Industry Expertise (3)

Research

Education/Learning

Health and Wellness

Areas of Expertise (1)

The relationship between diet and cardiovascular disease

Biography

Penny Kris-Etherton is a distinguished professor of nutrition. She is a world-recognized expert on the effects of diet on established and emerging risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Education (1)

University of Minnesota: Ph.D. 1978

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Media Appearances (3)

Handful of almonds a day boosts 'good' cholesterol that protects against heart disease

Daily Mail  online

2017-08-14

A handful of almonds a day boosts 'good' cholesterol levels, new research reveals. Eating the nuts every day increases levels of so-called 'good' cholesterol while also improving plaque removal from the body, a study found. Just 43g of almonds improves good cholesterol levels by 19 percent, as well as boosting the removal of its 'bad' counterpart, research reveals.

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Almonds may help boost cholesterol clean-up crew

Penn State News  online

2017-08-10

Eating almonds on a regular basis may help boost levels of HDL cholesterol while simultaneously improving the way it removes cholesterol from the body, according to researchers.

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Eating THESE nuts could prevent stroke and even heart attack - but they must be unsalted

Express  online

2017-03-29

The nuts help reduce the amount of clot causing lipids in the bloodstream by a third, according to the study. Researchers say this leads to more supple arteries and stronger hearts - adding to evidence that nuts in general, including peanuts, help stave off a range of deadly illnesses. Professor Penny Kris-Etherton, of Pennsylvania State University, said: "Typically, whenever we eat something, it causes the arteries to get a little bit stiffer during the post-meal period.

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Articles (5)

Effects of Daily Almond Consumption on Cardiometabolic Risk and Abdominal Adiposity in Healthy Adults With Elevated LDL‐Cholesterol: A Randomized Controlled Trial


Journal of the American Heart Association

Claire E. Berryman, Sheila G. West, Jennifer A. Fleming, Peter L. Bordi, Penny M. Kris‐Etherton

2015 Evidence consistently shows that almond consumption beneficially affects lipids and lipoproteins. Almonds, however, have not been evaluated in a controlled‐feeding setting using a diet design with only a single, calorie‐matched food substitution to assess their specific effects on cardiometabolic risk factors.

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Effect of a Moderate Fat Diet With and Without Avocados on Lipoprotein Particle Number, Size and Subclasses in Overweight and Obese Adults: A Randomized, Controlled Trial


Journal of the American Heart Association

Li Wang, Peter L. Bordi, Jennifer A. Fleming, Alison M. Hill, Penny M. Kris‐Etherton

2015 Avocados are a nutrient‐dense source of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) that can be used to replace saturated fatty acids (SFA) in a diet to lower low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C). Well‐controlled studies are lacking on the effect of avocado consumption on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors.

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Oats and CVD risk markers: a systematic literature review


British Journal of Nutrition

Thies F, Masson LF, Boffetta P, Kris-Etherton P

2014 High consumption of whole-grain food such as oats is associated with a reduced risk of CVD and type 2 diabetes. The present study aimed to systematically review the literature describing long-term intervention studies that investigated the effects of oats or oat bran on CVD risk factors. The literature search was conducted using Embase, Medline and the Cochrane library, which identified 654 potential articles. Seventy-six articles describing sixty-nine studies met the inclusion criteria. Most studies lacked statistical power to detect a significant effect of oats on any of the risk factors considered: 59 % of studies had less than thirty subjects in the oat intervention group. Out of sixty-four studies that assessed systemic lipid markers, thirty-seven (58 %) and thirty-four (49 %) showed a significant reduction in total cholesterol (2–19 % reduction) and LDL-cholesterol (4–23 % reduction) respectively, mostly in hypercholesterolaemic subjects. Few studies (three and five, respectively) described significant effects on HDL-cholesterol and TAG concentrations. Only three out of twenty-five studies found a reduction in blood pressure after oat consumption. None of the few studies that measured markers of insulin sensitivity and inflammation found any effect after long-term oat consumption. Long-term dietary intake of oats or oat bran has a beneficial effect on blood cholesterol. However, there is no evidence that it favourably modulates insulin sensitivity. It is still unclear whether increased oat consumption significantly affects other risk markers for CVD risk, and comprehensive, adequately powered and controlled intervention trials are required to address this question.

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Effects of supplemental long-chain omega-3 fatty acids and erythrocyte membrane fatty acid content on circulating inflammatory markers in a randomized controlled trial of healthy adults


Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids (PLEFA)

Flock MR, Skulas-Ray AC, Harris WS, Gaugler TL, Fleming JA, Kris-Etherton PM

2014 The long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated (n-3 PUFA), eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), may have anti-inflammatory effects. We evaluated the dose-response effect of EPA+DHA supplementation on circulating TNF-α, IL-6, and CRP and explored associations between red blood cell (RBC) membrane PUFA content and TNF-α, IL-6, and CRP. Young adults with low fish intake (n=116) received one of five doses (0, 300, 600, 900, or 1,800 mg/d EPA+DHA) for 5 months. There were no significant effects of supplemental EPA+DHA on IL-6 or CRP; however, there was a marginal treatment effect for TNF-α (p

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A moderate-fat diet containing pistachios improves emerging markers of cardiometabolic syndrome in healthy adults with elevated LDL levels


British Journal of Nutrition

Holligan SD, West SG, Gebauer SK, Kay CD, Kris-Etherton PM

2014 A randomised, cross-over, controlled-feeding study was conducted to evaluate the cholesterol-lowering effects of diets containing pistachios as a strategy for increasing total fat (TF) levels v. a control (step I) lower-fat diet. Ex vivo techniques were used to evaluate the effects of pistachio consumption on lipoprotein subclasses and functionality in individuals (n 28) with elevated LDL levels ( ≥ 2·86 mmol/l). The following test diets (SFA approximately 8 % and cholesterol < 300 mg/d) were used: a control diet (25 % TF); a diet comprising one serving of pistachios per d (1PD; 30 % TF); a diet comprising two servings of pistachios per d (2PD; 34 % TF). A significant decrease in small and dense LDL (sdLDL) levels was observed following the 2PD dietary treatment v. the 1PD dietary treatment (P= 0·03) and following the 2PD dietary treatment v. the control treatment (P= 0·001). Furthermore, reductions in sdLDL levels were correlated with reductions in TAG levels (r 0·424, P= 0·025) following the 2PD dietary treatment v. the control treatment. In addition, inclusion of pistachios increased the levels of functional α-1 (P= 0·073) and α-2 (P= 0·056) HDL particles. However, ATP-binding cassette transporter A1-mediated serum cholesterol efflux capacity (P= 0·016) and global serum cholesterol efflux capacity (P= 0·076) were only improved following the 2PD dietary treatment v. the 1PD dietary treatment when baseline C-reactive protein status was low ( < 103μg/l). Moreover, a significant decrease in the TAG:HDL ratio was observed following the 2PD dietary treatment v. the control treatment (P= 0·036). There was a significant increase in β-sitosterol levels (P< 0·0001) with the inclusion of pistachios, confirming adherence to the study protocol. In conclusion, the inclusion of pistachios in a moderate-fat diet favourably affects the cardiometabolic profile in individuals with an increased risk of CVD.

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