Eat Nuts to Live Longer

A latest study by Harvard researchers states that eating nuts regularly can increase your life expectancy by 20 percent.

Regular intake of various nuts such as peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, macadamias, pecans, cashews, pistachios, and pine nuts can reduce the risk of various cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

"The most obvious benefit was a reduction of 29 percent in deaths from heart disease-the major killer of people in America," said lead researcher Dr. Charles S. Fuchs, director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

For the study, the researchers analyzed the data collected from nurses and health professionals who were tracked since 1980s. Around 76,000 women who are part of the ongoing Nurses' Health Study and 42,000 men who are regularly evaluated as part of the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, reported Reuters Health.

At the time of the study, nearly 16,000 women died and almost 11,000 men died over a 24-year period in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.

"Nuts used to be demonized because they're high in fat. Now, 20 years later, they're recognized as a healthful food," Jeffrey Blumberg of USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, told Reuters Health.

Consuming nuts can also reduce the cholesterol levels and inflammation and helps in controlling weight. People who eat nuts regularly are 25 percent less likely to die from heart disease, 10 percent less likely to die from cancer, and 20 percent less likely to die from diabetes as well as lung diseases.