Prevent Heart Disease By Eating More Nuts

Nut consumption was associated with a lower risk for cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease, according to the findings of a recent study. 

For their study, the researchers analyzed data from 76,364 women involved in the Nurses’ Health Study, 92,946 women involved the Nurses’ Health Study II, and 41,526 men involved in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study who were free from cancer, heart disease, and stroke at baseline. They measured total and specific type of nut consumption using food frequency questionnaires, which were taken at baseline and updated every 4 years.
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During follow-up, a total of 14,136 cardiovascular disease cases were documented, of which 8390 were coronary heart disease cases and 5910 were stroke cases.

After the researchers adjusted for cardiovascular risk factors, they found that total nut consumption was inversely associated with total cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease. Compared with participants who never or almost never consumed nuts, the hazard ratios for those who consumed 1 serving of nuts 5 or more times per week were 0.86 for cardiovascular disease and 0.80 for coronary heart disease.

In addition, the risk of cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease was lowered by 13% to 19% and 15% to 23%, respectively, with the consumption of 2 or more servings of peanuts and tree nuts and 1 serving of walnuts per week.

“In 3 large prospective cohort studies, higher consumption of total and specific types of nuts was inversely associated with total cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease,” the researchers concluded.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Guasch-Ferré M, Liu X, Malik VS, et al. Nut consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease [published online November 14, 2017]. J Am Coll Cardiol. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2017.09.035.