Nut Consumption Linked to Lower CVD and Mortality

A US prospective analysis revealed that higher consumption of nuts, especially tree nuts, is associated with lower cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence and mortality in patients with diabetes. The analysis included 16,217 men (1986-2014) and women (1980-2014) with diabetes at baseline or diagnosed during follow-up. During 223,682 and 254,923 person-years of follow-up, there were 3,336 incident CVD cases and 5,682 deaths. Higher total nut consumption was associated with a lower risk of CVD incidence and mortality. The multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios for participants who consumed 5 or more servings of total nuts per week (1 serving=28g), compared with those who consumed less than 1 serving per month, were 0.83 and 0.80 for total CVD and coronary heart disease (CHD) incidences; and 0.66 and 0.69 for CVD and all-cause mortality, respectively. For specific types of nuts, higher tree nut consumption was associated with lower risk of total CVD, CHD incidence, and mortality due to CVD, cancer, and all causes, while peanut consumption was associated with lower all-cause mortality only. In addition, compared with participants who did not change the consumption of total nuts from pre- to post-diabetes diagnosis, participants who increased consumption of total nuts after diabetes diagnosis had a lower risk of CVD, CHD, and lower CVD and all-cause mortality. The associations persisted in various subgroup analyses. The findings provide further evidence that supports the recommendation of incorporating nuts into healthy dietary patterns. Source: https://www.ahajournals.org/