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286 IV.Resultados y discusión. Capítulo III
dysfunction) and C-reactive protein (sensitive marker of inflammation that,
in high concentrations, is strongly linked with coronary events, stroke and
peripheral vascular disease) in healthy men and women.
On the other hand, almonds have been defined by the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) as an excellent source of vitamin E, manganese,
magnesium, copper, phosphorous, fiber, riboflavin and arginine-rich
protein. Although around 50% of almond composition is fat, intakes of 7 g
per day of this nut reduce low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration
by 1% (Sabaté et al., 2003) and up to 84 g per day can be consumed without
there being any weight gain (Chen et al., 2006). In fact, the FDA
promulgated almonds a qualified B-level health claim: eating 42 g daily as
part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of
heart disease. Moreover, these nuts have a low glycemic index and do not
adversely impact insulin sensitivity (Chen et al., 2006). Almonds have been
found to possess antioxidant activity thanks to the bioavailable -tocopherol
and polyphenolic constituents (Chen et al., 2006 and 2007; Milbury et al.,
2006) and prebiotic effects, since they stimulated the growth of gut
bifidobacteria genus and Eubacterium rectale (Mandalari et al., 2008).
Hence, taking into account the health benefits of almond intake, almond
milk might be considered as a good food matrix with which to obtain
healthy fermented products. Moreover, if the fermentation process is carried
out by potentially probiotic bacteria, the developed fermented product could
be useful as a means of preventing some inmunomodulatory diseases, such
as allergies.