A Handful of Nuts a Day Could Reduce Risk of Death

Eating half a handful of nuts a day could add years to your life, according to a new study.

Researchers at Maastricht University in the Netherlands found that men and women who ate about half a handful of nuts or peanuts daily had a lower risk of dying from several major causes of death than individuals who didn’t eat nuts or peanuts. Peanut butter, however, didn’t appear to have any protective effect.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

RELATED CONTENT
Could Nuts and Olive Oil Protect Cognitive Function?
Could Eating Nuts Lower Mortality Risk?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“It was remarkable that substantially lower mortality was already observed at consumption levels of 15 grams of nuts or peanuts on average per day,” lead study author Piet van den Brandt, PhD, professor of epidemiology at Maastricht University said in a press release. “A higher intake was not associated with further reduction in mortality risk.”

“This was also supported by a meta-analysis of previously published studies together with the Netherlands Cohort Study, in which cancer and respiratory mortality showed this same dose-response pattern,” he said.

Van den Brandt and colleagues investigated the relationship of tree nut/peanut and peanut butter intake with overall and cause-specific mortality. They analyzed data from the Netherlands Cohort Study, which has been gathering information since 1986 about the dietary and lifestyle habits of more than 120,000 Dutch men and women ages 55 to 69.

Study results revealed that the reduction in mortality was strongest for respiratory disease, neurodegenerative disease, and diabetes—followed by cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Meta-analyses conducted by the researchers also showed consistent risk reductions for cancer and respiratory mortality.

The authors reported that these results suggest nut intake may offer protection against cardiovascular disease and various non-cardiovascular causes of death at lower intake levels than previously reported.

They found that the protective effects of nuts were equal in men and women, and that the maximum reduction in mortality was reached at intake levels of about 10 g/day in women and 15 g/day in men.

In contrast, the researchers found no association between mortality and peanut butter intake. They pointed out that the nutritional composition of peanut butter is different than peanuts, which may explain why peanuts appear to have a protective effect while peanut butter does not.

According to the study, peanut butter in the Netherlands is 20-fold higher in sodium content but lower in niacin than peanuts and also contains partially hydrogenated vegetable fats (trans fats), which may also account for the differences in mortality association.

The full study was published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.

—Colleen Mullarkey

Reference

van den Brandt PA, Schouten LJ. Relationship of tree nut, peanut and peanut butter intake with total and cause-specific mortality: a cohort study and meta-analysis. Int J Epidemiol. 2015 Jun 10 [epub ahead of print]. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyv039..