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HowToPreventHeartDisease.com |
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How Nuts Can Reduce Death Risk From Heart Disease? In addition to protein, nuts also contain heart-health substances including unsaturated fats, omega-3 fatty acids, fiber and vitamin-E. Observational studies and clinical trials have shown that nut consumption could reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and Type-2 diabetes. But when it comes to the link between nut consumption and death, there are very few studies showing the benefit of nuts on total mortality. A recent large study by researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the Harvard School of Public Health found that people who ate nuts on a daily basis were 20 percent less likely to die from heart disease, cancer or any other cause over 30 years than people who did not eat them, and nuts seem to help lose weight, too. The findings showed that there was a reduction of 29 percent in deaths from heart disease and 11 percent from cancer. The study, which is a follow-up to many different, smaller studies that have found all sorts of benefits from eating nuts, was published November 21, 2013 in the ‘New England Journal of Medicine’. While the type of nut consumed is not that important, some nuts might have more heart-healthy nutrients and fats than others might have. The study indicated that even peanuts, which are technically not nuts but legumes, helped.
2 big studies were selected by the researchers: the 120,000-person Nurses’ Health Study, which has been watching volunteers since 1976, and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, involving more than 50,000 men and dating back to 1986. These are so-called observational studies, meaning they could not prove cause and effect, though they were done in real-time: people were interviewed over the years. Participants were asked every few years how often they had eaten a serving of nuts: never or almost never, 1 to 3 times a month, once a week, 2 to 4 times a week, 5 or 6 times a week, once a day, 2 or 3 times a day, 4 to 6 times a day, or more than 6 times a day. Smokers and obese were excluded. And researchers also took weight, other aspects of diet and salt intake into account. For people who ate nuts 7 or more times per week, there was a 20 percent lower death rate. Those who just ate nuts every once in a while lowered the death rate by 7 percent over 30 years. Eating nuts once a week reduced the death rate by 11 percent, and people who ate nuts 5 to 6 times a week had a 15 percent lower death rate. Comparing to people who ate nuts less frequently, those who consumed nuts more frequently were leaner, less likely to smoke, more likely to exercise, and more likely to use multivitamin supplements. They also consumed more fruits and vegetables and drank more alcohol. Why the nuts help? Researchers admitted that they still could not figure it out but it might be that nuts replace unhealthy snacks in the diet, and perhaps their effect on inflammation or metabolism. People who ate nuts gained less weight over time than people who did not. Though the study was funded in part by the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research and Education Foundation (a nonprofit industry group), the organization had no role or influence over any aspect of the study. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded in 2003 that for most nuts, a daily consumption of 43 grams (1.5 ounces), as part of a low-fat diet, might reduce the risk of heart disease. For people with heart disease, eating nuts instead of a less healthy snack could actually help them more easily follow a heart-healthy diet. Perhaps, people should consider replacing popcorns by almonds or other kinds of nuts when watching movie. Nevertheless, eating nuts should not be considered as a substitute for keeping a healthy lifestyle. Instead, it should be done together with eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, exercising, not smoking, and limiting alcohol intake to 1 or 2 glasses per day.
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