A Handful Of Nuts A Day Keeps The Doctor Away

People who eat a handful of nuts per day have a reduced risk of various health problems like heart disease and cancer, scientists have found.

According to a new study published in the BMC Medicine Journal, munching about a handful of nuts on a daily basis cuts the risk of a wide range of diseases.

Nut Consumption Cuts Risk Of Various Diseases

In fact, consuming 20 grams of nuts a day reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease by 30 percent, premature death by 22 percent and cancer by about 15 percent.

A team of researchers at the Imperial College London and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology collected and evaluated 29 previously published studies covering more than 800,000 participants, including at least 12,000 cases of cardiovascular heart disease, 9,000 cases of stroke, 18,000 cases of cardiovascular disease and cancer and more than 85,000 deaths.

"We found a consistent reduction in risk across many different diseases, which is a strong indication that there is a real underlying relationship between nut consumption and different health outcomes," Dagfinn Aune, study co-author, said in a press release by the Imperial College London. "It's quite a substantial effect on such a small amount of food," Aune added.

Health Benefits Of Nuts

Aside from being packed with protein, nuts have many health benefits. According to Mayo Clinic, eating nuts is actually good for the heart as they contain unsaturated fatty and other essential nutrients.

There is a great deal of research that suggests nuts can benefit heart health and reduce the risk of premature deaths from heart disease and other causes. However, this is the first time an extensive research has been conducted to determine how much risk is reduced.

Nuts contain essential ingredients that are beneficial to health including unsaturated fats, omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, vitamin E, plant sterols and L-arginine.

"In conclusion, our results provide further evidence that nut consumption may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, cardiovascular disease, total cancer, and all-cause mortality, and possibly mortality from diabetes, respiratory disease, and infectious disease," the researchers concluded in the study.