This has just been certified by one of the most complete studies carried out so far on the subject. According to the findings, those who consume seven servings or more of nuts a week have a 20 percent less chance of dying from cardiovascular conditions, cancer and respiratory conditions.
Exactly, according to data compiled by researchers from various US institutions, eating a certain amount of nuts reduces the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease by 29 percent and 11 percent from cancer.
To reach this conclusion, the team of researchers analyzed data from 118,962 people who did not have any history of cancer, cardiovascular disease or heart attacks when the trial began and ran for 30 years. In addition, to rule out other factors that could influence the results, they exhaustively analyzed the data, noting that those who ate more nuts also ate more fruits and vegetables, drank less alcohol, smoked less, and used vitamin supplements.
The benefits have been demonstrated regardless of the type of fruit consumed. As the lead author of the study and researcher at Birgham Hospital in Boston Ying Bao explains to the scientific news agency SINC, ” both the consumption of land and those from trees have similar effects on mortality .” But what is special about nuts to give them these protective properties?
According to the researchers, the secret of the benefits of nuts lies in the large amount of nutrients they provide. “Unsaturated fatty acids, high quality proteins, fiber, vitamins, minerals or phytochemicals such as flavonoids, carotenoids …” could be the key to the “cardioprotective, anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant” properties of nuts .
According to Professor Miguel Ángel Martínez González, a researcher at the University of Navarra, “the observational results confirm the benefits of the nuts that we have obtained during the randomized trial in Spain”. Noting further that “if these two findings are put together there are definite reasons to promote the consumption of nuts in the entire population .”
The study was partially funded by the International Council on Nut Consumption and recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
