On the heels of the last article I reviewed detailing the importance of starting your kids and family off on the right nutritional foot here is a study you can use to add a simple super food to you diets. It requires no preparation, special packaging or storage. It’s natures ready to eat snack, nuts!

Several studies have looked at the health benefits of adding nuts to your diet and have shown a decrease in death from heart disease in particular in people who eat nuts more frequently. The Adventist Health Study showed that people who consumed nuts more than 5 times per week had a 48% reduced chance of fatal cardiovascular disease. The Iowa Women’s Health Study showed similar results with a 57% decreased risk of fatal heart disease in women who consumed nuts 2-4 times per week. The Nurses’ Health Study and the Physician’s Health Study showed a 30% and 47% decrease in death from cardiovascular disease respectively in people who ate more nuts.  

One limitation of those studies, which this study does not have, is those studies were done on populations of people who typically eat less nuts so the correlation of increased nut consumption with decreased heart disease would be weaker. This study was done in Spain, a Mediterranean population which has a higher frequency of nut consumption and it was with an elderly population that were at increased risk for heart disease as they had already been diagnosed with high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol or obesity.

The participants in this study were given detailed questionnaires about their previous dietary habits which included how frequently they ate nuts of all kinds, and then they were randomly put into one of three groups. The first was put on a Mediterranean diet supplemented with mixed nuts, the second a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra virgin olive oil and the third was put on a low fat diet.

When breaking down the data from this study it supports what the other studies have shown. People who ate more than 3 servings of nuts per week, either before the study started or from being placed in the group told to increase nut consumption, had a 39% reduced risk of death from heart disease. What makes this study interesting and unique is that they also looked at death from cancer, which the other studies did not, and found a 40% lower risk of cancer death in the groups that ate nuts. Also since this was a Mediterranean population with greater frequency to eat nuts the researchers found that those who had the highest amounts of nut consumption before being put in the study and were then put in the group told to eat more nuts had a 63% reduced risk of death from all causes!  The participants put in the low fat diet group were found to have no change in rates of heart disease or cancer even if they were in the group who ate a lot of nuts before the study. This is presumed because they lost the protective effect of the nut consumption once they were put on the low fat diet and told to decrease all fat intake even the good fats found in nuts.

There are several reasons nuts are so beneficial to our health. They are high in fat however it is monounsaturated fatty acid which is good for us. They are also high in fiber, minerals, vitamins, and many bioactive compounds. They really are one of nature’s super foods. This study also went a step further by separating out some types of nuts, notably walnuts and showed an increased benefit in people who at more of them. This could be because walnuts are usually eaten raw and with the skin on. Dry roasting or cooking nuts at all breaks down the fats and can destroy some of the protective antioxidants in them.

So now the next time you are looking for a healthy, ready to eat snack that travels easily grab a bag of mixed nuts. The results of these studies show at least 3 servings (about 1 oz.) a week has significant benefits to your health. Go nuts!

BMC Medicine 2013,11:164

By Dr Scott Szela