Taking care of oneself isn't always easy, but there's one simple thing you can do to improve your health: eat more nuts and peanuts.
Scientists at Vanderbilt University recently released two similar studies stating that eating more nuts and peanuts can reduce disease and deaths related to cardiovascular illnesses.
"Nuts are rich in nutrients, such as unsaturated fatty acids, fiber, vitamins, phenolic antioxidants, arginine and other phytochemicals," says Xiao-Ou Shu, M.D., Ph.D., associate director for Global Health at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and author of one of the studies. "All of them are known to be beneficial to cardiovascular health, probably through their anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory and endothelial function maintenance properties."
However, most importantly, peanuts have the same health benefits, although they're technically not nuts, but legumes. Peanuts are generally less expensive than nuts, though, so this is one healthy option that those in low socioeconomic backgrounds can indulge in.
The study looked at three groups of over 70,000 low-income people in the U.S., as well as over 100,000 people in China with at least half of overall nut/peanut consumption being peanuts. Surveys asked people about how many nuts and peanuts they ate. Then researchers compared data with the National Death Index, the Social Security Administration mortality files and the Shanghai Vital Statistics Registry.
Results showed those who ate more nuts had reduced risks of mortality and cardiovascular disease in all groups. In the U.S., the risk was 21 percent for those who ate the most nuts and peanuts. In China, the risk of death was 17 percent less among those who ate more peanuts.
"In our study, we found that peanut consumption was associated with reduced total mortality and cardiovascular disease mortality in a predominantly low-income black and white population in the U.S., and among Chinese men and women living in Shanghai," says Shu.
Although the individual studies used observational data, it still showed nut and peanut consumption provides health benefits and that even low-income people could benefit from eating the less expensive peanuts. Also, peanuts are generally more widely available, so incorporating them into diet for health reasons is easier.
A previous study in 2013 also acknowledged the health benefits of eating nuts, but this particular study is the first to focus on low-income people, as well as considering peanuts for the same reason.
Photo: Aleksandar Cocek | Flickr
