New Study: A handful of nuts a day could make you live longer

The next time you’re craving a mid-day snack, toss aside that chocolate bar and consider munching on a handful of nuts instead. Studies have found that eating merely a handful of nuts a day may be enough to lower the risk of death from heart disease and other ills!

The Study: A handful of nuts may let you live longer

In a review combining data from 20 studies, researchers found that compared to people who ate the least amount of nuts, people who ate the most nuts significantly reduced their risk of the following diseases:

• coronary heart disease by 29%
• cardiovascular disease by 21%
• cancer by 15%
• respiratory disease by 52%
• diabetes by 39%
• infectious disease by 75%

Eating an average of about 3o grams of nuts a day (or 12 almonds and 15 pecan halves daily) is enough to maximise your risk reduction of these diseases. The science behind it? Research conducted have surfaced that a higher nut intake can reduce the triglycerides and cholesterol level in the blood. Furthermore, nuts are high in fiber, antioxidants and polyunsaturated fats, which are highly beneficial to the body and known to fight diseases.

Unless you’re allergic to them, eating nuts has little risk and offers great potential benefits to your health. Plus – since you only need to consume a small amount of them daily, it’s a small (and thankfully tasty) dietary change that is incredibly manageable for you to work into your meals and schedule everyday! Who would’ve thought that a mere handful of nuts could have so many potent benefits? We’re definitely keeping a stash of them on the ready.

Sarah Khan

Photo: Getty Images

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