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"Nuts May Help Prevent Death"
We’ve known increased nut consumption
has been associated with a reduced risk of major chronic diseases,
including heart disease and diabetes.
But do those who eat nuts actually live longer lives?
Clinical trials have shown nuts help lower cholesterol and oxidation,
and improve our arterial function, and blood sugar levels,
but does all this translate into greater longevity?
Researchers at Harvard examined the association
between nut consumption and subsequent mortality
of over a 100,000 people followed for decades.
In that time tens of thousands died,
but those that ate nuts every day lived significantly longer.
Daily nut consumers had fewer cancer deaths, heart disease deaths,
and fewer deaths from respiratory disease.
And this was after controlling for other lifestyle factors
so nut consumers lived significantly longer
whether they were older, younger, fat, or skinny,
whether they exercised more, or smoked, drank,
or ate other foods that may affect mortality.
But nuts are so filled with fat that there may be a concern
that frequent nut consumption can result in weight gain.
However, that’s not what they found,
and in fact other studies have associated nut consumption
with a slimmer waist, less weight gain, and lower risk of obesity.
If you look at all the studies put together, it’s pretty much a wash.
Diets enriched with nuts do not seem to affect body weight,
body mass index, or waist circumference much at all.
Just for a visual, this is one of the most recent such studies,
in which subjects were told to add to their diets
either zero, 70, or 120 pistachios to their daily diet
as quite an afternoon snack every day for three months,
and the results looked like this... can’t even tell which line is which,
weather they were eating no nuts or over a 100 day.
Hence, it appears, the incorporation of nuts, about 1 or 2 small handfuls a day,
would be advisable to ensure various health benefits
without the risk of body weight gain.
And what was nice about this review is that
there were no apparent ties to the nut industry.
How "nuts" do we have to go?
Not much. Just a few servings a week
may boost our lifespan and lower cancer rates,
but, it appears, we have to keep it up.
In the PREDIMED study, where long-time nut eaters
were told to cut down on eating nuts or choose extra *** olive oil,
within 5 years they apparently lost much of their longevity benefit.
Only the group that started out eating nuts
and continued to eat at least the same amount of nuts
had the significant survival advantage.