"A large study located an association between nut consumption and both total mortality and cause-specific mortality"
In a paper written by Jacob Schor, N.D, former president of
the Colorado Association of Naturopathic Physicians, nuts and their significant
protective effects come to light.
A large study located an association between nut consumption
and both total mortality and cause-specific mortality. In the study, data from the Nurses’ Health
Study (NHS) and the Health Professionals Follow Up Study (HPFS) were used. The
NHS is a prospective cohort of 121,700 female nurses who were enrolled in 1976.
The HPFS is a prospective cohort of 51,529 male health professionals enrolled
in 1986. Participants without complete
data or that had a history of cancer, heart disease, or stroke were excluded,
making the final analyses a total of 76,464 women and 42,498 men.
Nut consumption was tracked via validated food-frequency
questionnaires administered every 2 to 4 years.
It was found that the Hazard Ratios (HR) for dying decreased with
increasing nut consumption. Those who reported eating nuts were 20% less likely
to have died during the course of the study than those who never ate nuts.
Take away…
‘Given the low risk that increased nut consumption has on
patient health and the great potential for benefit—ie, decreasing mortality by
a fifth—there is little left to debate’, Doctor Shor writes. ‘We should be
actively encouraging our patients to consume a daily serving of nuts,’ he
concludes.
