Why you should eat nuts

Immortality might not be all it is cracked up to be. What would happen to your life insurance premiums and how terrifying would it be to see what future generations make as television programs? Even given those conundrums however, most people would take a longer life if you offered it to them and they would probably be willing to sacrifice quite a bit to get it. So imagine if you told people that all they had to do in order to prolong their life was to eat a handful of nuts each day. In fact you don’t have to imagine it, you can go tell them, because a new study suggests it is true.

In the study researchers analysed data on a total of nearly 120,000 people. The participants were followed for between 24 and 30 years and completed detailed food questionnaires every two to four years during that time. When they broke down the data and compared food intake to health outcomes the results for nuts were impressive.

It emerged that people who ate a handful (28g) of nuts once a week had an 11 per cent reduction in death risk. It was also found that the more nuts you eat the better. Those who ate a handful of nuts three to four times a week had a 13 per cent reduction in death risk, five to six times a week led to a 15 per cent reduction, and eating a handful of nuts daily resulted in a 20 per cent reduction in death risk.

It might not all be the nuts themselves because they also found that people who eat nuts tend to be leaner, eat more fruit and vegetables, and exercise more. However, even when they take out all of these other factors nuts alone still showed protective effects.

It is probably the quality protein and healthy fats with a sprinkling of useful nutrients that make nuts so healthy. Looking at specific diseases it was found that a handful of nuts daily reduced heart disease risk by 29 per cent and cancer risk by 11 per cent.

Additionally, the researchers found that all nuts conferred these benefits. Tree nuts like cashews and brazil nuts showed equal benefits to peanuts (which are technically a legume). So next time someone tells you that are “nuts!” don’t take offence, they could just be remarking on how healthy you are looking.