Dr. Reichman’s Bottom Line: Eating eight almonds, walnuts, or hazelnuts a day may keep the cardiac doctor away.
Q: Am I nuts to think that nuts can decrease my risk of heart disease?
A: No, you’re not nuts. There are at least four studies in the U.S. showing the impact of nuts on cardiovascular disease (the Adventist Health Study, the Iowa Women’s Health Study, the Nurses’ Health Study, and the Physicians’ Health Study). Together these studies looked at hundreds of thousands of individuals and found that nuts can indeed decrease the risk of heart disease.
The most recent study, and one I like because it includes an amazing number of people, came out of Europe. It followed more than half a million adults in 10 European countries.
If you want the official name of the study (though you probably don’t); it’s called the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). EPIC showed that people who ate two servings of nuts a week had a 24 percent decrease in their risk of death from coronary heart disease compared to those who didn’t eat nuts.
Two servings come out to be 20 almonds, walnuts, or hazelnuts, or 56 grams. This risk was calculated after adjusting for the usual cardiovascular disease risk factors (including consumption of fish and other foods thought to have beneficial effects on heart health).
Why are nuts good?
Read more at MSNBC
Post a Comment