Want to know the secret to a long life? Eat nuts

Researchers found that eating 15 grams of nuts or peanuts a day leads to a lower risk of dying from a range of diseases. Photo / 123RF

Just half a handful of nuts a day can cut your risk of dying from a string of major diseases, a study has revealed.

Researchers found that eating 15 grams of nuts or peanuts a day leads to a lower risk of dying from respiratory disease, neurodegenerative disease and diabetes, as well as cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

The team from Maastricht University, in the Netherlands, looked at almost 20 years of data from more than 120,000 people aged of 55 to 69 in 1986.

They found mortality rates were 'substantially lower' among those who ate an average of half a handful of nuts a day.

However, eating more nuts than this did not lead to further reduction in mortality risk according to the study, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology. And peanut butter had no protective effect at all.

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Project leader Professor Piet van den Brandt said peanuts and tree nuts both contain compounds including monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, various vitamins, fibre, antioxidants and other bioactive compounds that possibly contribute to the lower death rates.

- Daily Mail