Dietary Mineral Intake from Nuts and Its Relationship to Hypertension Among Korean Adults

Accumulating evidence shows that nut consumption beneficially affects health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between the intake of nuts, focusing on their mineral contents, and the risk of hypertension in nationally representative samples in Korea. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 12,113 subjects (4762 men and 7351 women) aged 19–64 years using raw data from KNHANES 2016–2019. Daily intake of 20 nuts and 9 minerals from nuts was assessed using the 24-h recall method. The risk of hypertension according to the median mineral intake from nuts and nuts themselves was assessed using logistic regression analysis with adjustment for potential confounders. The average daily nut intake was 4.34 g for females and 3.78 g males. Among nut intake, chestnuts represented the highest value at 0.95 g/day, followed by peanuts (0.72 g/day), almonds (0.62 g/day), sesame seeds (0.62 g/day), perilla seeds (0.33 g/day), and walnuts (0.32 g/day). The daily intake of minerals from nuts was significantly higher in the nut-overmedian (OM) group than in the nut-undermedian (UM) group. Regarding mineral intake from nuts, each mineral-UM group showed higher odds of hypertension than the mineral-OM group in women, but not in men. After adjustment for potential confounders, an inverse association between nut consumption, including minerals obtained from nuts, and hypertension prevalence, especially in women, was observed. Based on our results, it is suggested that incorporation of nuts into a daily diet may yield beneficial effects and lower the risk of hypertension in adult Korean women.