In a 2017 study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 51 people with high levels of LDL cholesterol ate either cashews or potato chips for four weeks as part of their everyday diet, then consumed the other snack for another four weeks after a two-week break. When the people consumed the cashews, their total cholesterol dropped on average by 3.9%. Their LDL cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol also decreased by 4.8% and 5.3% respectively. Although there weren’t any significant changes in people’s triglycerides or HDL cholesterol levels, eating cashews also lowered their total cholesterol-to-HDL ratio, indicating a healthy improvement in their lipid profiles.
However, a 2019 study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition conducted a similar study but didn’t have its participants consume potato chips. This study didn’t find that cashews affected cholesterol, blood pressure, blood glucose, or any other risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
Cashews might raise HDL cholesterol in people with type 2 diabetes, according to a 2018 study in The Journal of Nutrition. For 12 weeks, 300 people either followed a diabetic diet or a diabetic diet that substituted 30 grams of cashews for equivalent carbohydrate calories. Those who ate the cashews had seen a slight but significant boost in their HDL cholesterol while lowering their systolic blood pressure.
