Want to Improve Your Heart Health? Go Nuts--Peanuts, That Is

As long as you're not allergic, you may want to consider adding peanuts to your diet. Scientists have found that eating peanuts may be a simple way to lower your risk of dying from a heart attack.

In this latest study, the researchers examined the association between nut and peanut consumption with mortality among long-income and racially diverse populations. While previous research has linked nut consumption with lower mortality, the studies were mostly focused on higher-income, white populations.

"Nuts are rich in nutrients, such as unsaturated fatty acids, fiber, vitamins, phenolic antioxidants, arginine and other phytochemicals," said Xiao-Ou Shu, one of the researchers, in a news release. "All of them are known to be beneficial to cardiovascular health, probably through their anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory and endothelial function maintenance properties."

The study itself was based on three large ongoing cohort studies. Information on nut consumption was collected by structured questionnaires at the baseline survey.

"In our study, we found that peanut consumption was associated with reduced total mortality and cardiovascular disease mortality in a predominantly low-income black and white populations in the U.S., and among Chinese men and women living in Shanghai," said Shu.

The researchers found that peanut consumption was associated with decreased total mortality, particularly cardiovascular mortality across all three racial groups, among both men and women. Because peanuts are much less expensive than tree nuts, as well as more widely available, increasing peanut consumption may provide a cost-efficient approach to improving cardiovascular health.

The findings show that if you want to improve your health, you may want to consider eating some nuts.

The findings are published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

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