Health & Medicine

Longevity: Nuts Helps Reduce Risk Of Early Death

Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Jun 11, 2015 05:05 PM EDT

Yep. This time, it's ok to literally "go nuts." (Well, maybe not exactly, but here's why.) 

New findings published in the International Journal of Epidemiology reveal that consuming nuts daily or 15g of tree nuts or peanuts per day, can help to lower the risk of early mortality by nearly 23 percent.

Researchers noted that the effects are the same in both men and women, with consuming nuts regularly linked to protection against respiratory disease, cardiovascular illness, diabetes, cancer and certain neurodegenerative illnesses.

The 10-year study was carried out when analyzing the dietary and lifestyle data from more than 120,000 Dutch men and women between the ages of 55 and 69-years-old.

Findings revealed that eating 15 grams of nuts daily lowered the risk of developing neurodegenerative illnesses like dementia by up to 45 percent and decreased the risk of respiratory diseases and diabetes by 39 percent and 30 percent, respectively.

However, researchers noted that those who consumed over 15 grams of nuts or peanuts daily did not further reduce their risk of mortality.

Of course, there's too much of a good thing, too, right? 

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