People who regularly eat nuts have a lower mortality risk than people 
who don’t eat nuts, according to an industry-funded, observational 
study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Researchers assessed the nut consumption of some 75,000 women in the 
Nurses’ Health Study and over 40,000 men in the Health Professionals 
Follow-up Study via regular food-frequency questionnaires. 
Participants were followed for up to 30 years.

People who ate nuts once a week had a lower risk for dying during 
follow-up than people who abstained from nuts (hazard ratio, 0.89). 
Risks decreased even more as nut consumption increased. In addition, 
more nut consumption translated to lower risk for dying from cancer 
and heart disease. The benefits were similar for tree nuts and peanuts.