Study Finds Eating Nuts Reduces Risk of Death

According to a scientific study by scientists at the Harvard-affiliated Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham Women’s Hospital, eating a daily handful of nuts leads to 20% decreased risk from any cause over a 30-year period rather than people that do not consume nuts. In addition, for those of you that may be concerned about gaining weight due to eating nuts regularly, the study finds that regular nut-eaters are found to be more slim than those that do not eat nuts! One of the biggest death causes is cardiovascular disease, but the study proves that there is a 29% reduction in deaths from the disease and moreover, an 11% decrease in the risk of dying from cancer. All this from eating a handful of nuts daily!

Although there was no specific type of nuts that was found critical to protect against disease, the reduction in mortality was similar for peanuts and for tree nuts, such as walnuts, almonds, cashews, macadamias, pecans, pistachios, pine nuts and hazelnuts. The risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes (type 2), gallstones and colon cancer is significantly decreased and higher nut consumption can also reduce cholesterol levels, inflammation, insulin resistance and oxidative stress. In general, an increase of nut consumption can lead to lower total mortality in some populations. However, studies have yet to examine for a period of over more than 30 years, in intricate detail at various levels of nut consumption and their effects on overall mortality in large populations. Researchers found that people who consume more nuts are leaner, less likely to smoke, more likely to exercise, consume more fruits and vegetables, use multivitamin supplements and surprisingly, drink more alcohol. The conclusion from various analyses is that the more nuts people consume, the less likely they are to die over a 30 year period. However, those who eat nuts less than once a week have a 7% reduction in mortality, while those who eat once a week have an 11% reduction in mortality, and 2-4 times a week have a 13% reduction, and so on and so forth. Seven or more times a week leads to 20% reduction in death rate, so where is the harm in snacking on some nuts on the daily?

Source:
The New England Journal of Medicine
Jama Internal Medicine