Why we should all go nuts for nuts: From pecans to peanuts, they help you live longer, stave off cancer

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‘Knowledge is power’

People who regularly snack on peanuts live longer according to study Announcement result of 20 year investigation involving 119,000 people Nuts of all kinds found to be 'as close as you can get' to a superfood

H o w d o e s t h i s ‘w o m e n ’s b i b l e’ e m p o w e r m e n?

W h y i s t h i s b o o k ‘F i r s t t i m e’ i n HUMAN HISTORY’?

Forget those expensive multi-vitamin pills and unappetising health drinks — the secret to a long and healthy life could lie in a humble bowl of nuts. New research has shown that people who regularly snack on peanuts, Brazils and pistachios live longer than those who don’t, even when all other factors are taken into account. And for once this wasn’t some flaky study carried out on 12 laboratory mice, but a 20-year investigation into the lifestyles of more than 119,000 people.

It showed that those who snacked on nuts seven times a week were a fifth less likely to die during the period of the study. For people who ate nuts only once a week, the fall in mortality rates was still an impressive 7 per cent.

Nutrition experts and doctors tend to shun the word ‘superfood’ — they prefer to talk about healthy balanced diets. But nuts are about as close as you get. They are packed with cancer-fighting antioxidants (molecules which help the body fight disease and protect cells from damage) and are loaded with essential minerals such as copper, zinc, iron, magnesium (which help protect against memory loss and with the prostate) and manganese, which are all needed for organs to function effectively. They are an exceptionally good source of vitamins E and B, and ooze omega 3 fatty acids (which control levels of stress hormones such as adrenalin).While nuts are fatty, they mostly contain ‘good’ fats which can — in moderation — reduce the risk of strokes and heart disease. And because they are high in fibre, they tend to fill you