A Dutch study, led by Professor Piet van den Brandt from Maastricht University, has found that the consumption of at least 10g of nuts a day is related to lower overall and cause-specific mortality.
Although nut intake has been associated with lower mortality, few studies have investigated causes of death other than cardiovascular disease, and dose-response relationships remain unclear, the researchers noted.
The study, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, investigated the relationship of nut (tree nuts and peanuts) and peanut butter intake with overall and cause-specific mortality.
The researchers analysed data from the Netherlands Cohort Study, begun in 1986 and involving 120,852 men and women aged 55-69 years, and looked at the participants’ mortality rate ten years later.
The researchers concluded that total nut intake was related to lower overall and cause-specific mortality (cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular, respiratory, neurodegenerative diseases, other causes) in men and women.
Across all diseases, there was an average 23% lower risk of ten-year mortality for those who consumed at least 10g (0.3oz) of peanuts or tree nuts daily; a 30% lower risk for diabetes; 39% for respiratory disease; and 45% for neurodegenerative disease.
Prof Brandt, commented: “It was remarkable that substantially lower mortality was already observed at consumption levels of 15g of nuts or peanuts on average per day.”
However, although peanuts and tree nuts were inversely related to mortality, peanut butter was not, possibly due to the inclusion of salt and trans fats.
