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Eating even a small amount of nuts per week could help the heart. Over a 17-year period beginning in 1982, researchers administered questionnaires on diet, health and exercise to more than 21,000 male physicians across the US. At the start of the investigation, known as the Physicians Health Study, all the participants were healthy and between the ages of 40 and 84.
The researchers found that 20% of the men rarely or never ate nuts. Approximately one quarter ate a one-ounce portion of nuts once a week, while less than 15% said they ate nuts two to four times per week. People consuming nuts five or more times weekly represented just over 6% of the men polled.
Men who ate two or more one-ounce servings of nuts each week had a 47% lower risk of sudden death due to cardiac arrest compared with those who ate nuts less often. Sudden cardiac death was defined as a death that occurred within one hour after symptoms began.
While the researchers found eating nuts did not appear to lower the risk of a non-fatal heart attack or the risk of non-sudden cardiac death, the overall risk for heart disease death appeared to be 30% lower among those who ate nuts at least twice a week.
The researchers cautioned that other observed lifestyle factors among nut-eaters may play a role in the association. For example, those who ate nuts tended to be younger, more likely to exercise and less likely to smoke or have high blood pressure.
The researchers suggested that the nutritional content of nuts -- which include high amounts of vitamin E, magnesium, potassium and so-called "healthy" unsaturated fats -- may be responsible for their apparent benefit..
Some nuts -- such as walnuts -- are relatively high in alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an omega-3 fat that helps prevent abnormal heart rhythms and has been shown to cut the risk of sudden cardiac death among people who have already suffered a heart attack.
Archives of Internal Medicine June 24, 2002;162:1382-1387
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