A Handful of Nuts
Just half a handful of nuts a day can cut your risk of dying from a string of major diseases, a new study reveals.
The study confirms a link between peanut and nut intake and lower mortality rates, but found no protective effect for peanut butter.
Researchers found that 10 grams of nuts or peanuts per day, around half a handful led to a lower risk of dying from respiratory disease, neurodegenerative disease, and diabetes, as well as cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
The effects are equal in men and women.
The researchers from Maastricht University in Holland found peanuts show at least as strong reductions in mortality as tree nuts, but peanut butter is not associated with mortality.
The study, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, was carried out within the Netherlands Cohort Study, which has been running since 1986 among more than 120,000 Dutch men and women, aged 55 to 69.
Nut consumption was assessed by asking about portion size and frequency of intake of peanuts, other nuts, and peanut butter.
The researchers analysed the relationship with overall and cause-specific mortality since 1986.
The associations between nuts and peanut intake and cardiovascular death confirm earlier results from American and Asian studies that were often focused on cardiovascular diseases.
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