Systematic review and meta-analysis · Complementary therapies in medicine · 2023Abstract onlyConflicts declared

Almonds and inflammation markers in adults

What it found

In adults, eating almonds lowered one inflammation marker, interleukin-6, but made no clear difference to another, C-reactive protein.

What they found

Studies in people

Interleukin-6 lowered

Almond consumption significantly decreased serum interleukin-6 levels in adults.

CRP not clearly changed

Almond consumption had no significant effect on serum C-reactive protein levels.

What the authors conclude

“The overall results support the beneficial effects of almond consumption on serum concentration of IL-6; but even so, our study revealed that the almond consumption non-significantly reduced serum concentration of CRP.”
Hariri M, Amirkalali B, Baradaran HR, Gholami A, 2023

Also in their conclusions

  • They say the overall results support the beneficial effects of almond consumption on serum concentration of IL-6.
  • They note that almond consumption non-significantly reduced serum concentration of CRP.
  • They advise that more well-designed trials are still needed to confirm the beneficial effects of almond.

How it was done

Earlier articles suggested almonds might lower levels of inflammation markers in the blood, so the authors looked at the evidence on two of them.

They searched for English-language studies up to August 2022 and combined the results of eleven studies in adults.

What it can’t tell you

  • We summarised it from the abstract only.
  • This review combines studies that measured these markers at different times and in different groups of adults.
  • It cannot show whether eating almonds changes the risk of any health condition.

The paper

Title
A systematic review and meta-analysis of almond effect on C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 in adults
Type
Systematic review and meta-analysisThe authors follow a set, published method to find every relevant study, then combine the numbers from them into one result.
Evidence
Studies in people
Summarised from
Abstract only
Cite
Hariri M, Amirkalali B, Baradaran HR, Gholami A (2023). A systematic review and meta-analysis of almond effect on C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 in adults. Complementary therapies in medicine. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2022.102911PubMed 36535459DOI

Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error