Eating a small handful of unsalted nuts seven or more times a week may reduce risk of death by 20%, according to a new study co-authored by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers. Even just a once-weekly serving of nuts reduced the risk of death by 11%, the researchers found.
The study was published online November 21, 2013 in The New England Journal of Medicine.
HSPH’s Walter Willett, a co-author, told The Boston Globe in a December 31, 2013 article that while nut eaters may also practice other healthy habits, a mounting body of evidence points to nuts’ independent benefits. Willett is Fredrick John Stare Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition and chair of HSPH’s Department of Nutrition.
“You put all the different kinds of studies together, which all point in the same direction, and that makes a very compelling case that nuts do improve risk of heart disease and other health outcomes and, not surprisingly, overall mortality,” he told the Globe.
Nuts for the Heart (HSPH’s The Nutrition Source)