14 DAY TRIAL // Forget about all sorts of miracle drugs or some wondrous spring deep in the woods that can turn back the clock and make you young again. Apparently, the key to enjoying a long and happy life is well within reach.
In fact, it is waiting for you on the shelves of the nearest supermarket. Not to keep you in suspense any longer, we're talking about peanuts. Crunchy peanuts like the ones some like to feast on while watching sports events, to be more precise.
Thus, researchers with the Vanderbilt University in the US and their colleagues say that, having carried out a series of investigations, they found that peanuts do a great job protecting the heart and prolonging life expectancy.
How nut consumption influences mortality rates
In a report published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine this March 2, the Vanderbilt University specialists explain that, as part of their study, they looked at the mortality rates of several distinct populations.
The researchers also looked to determine how fond of nuts and especially peanuts the members of these populations were. To make sure that their data would be as accurate as possible, they focused on people belonging to different races.
Specifically, it is understood that the investigation boiled down to monitoring the health condition and assessing the mortality risk of more than 70,000 Americans of African and European descent, and about 130,000 Chinese men and women.
It was discovered that, when compared to those who almost never consumed peanuts or other types of nuts, those who were rather fond of such treats had a 17-21% lower risk of total mortality and 23-38% lower risk of cardiovascular mortality.
Nuts are surprisingly healthy, researchers say
Seeing how they pack a whole lot of calories, peanuts and other types of nuts are not everybody's favorite snack in the whole wide world. Still, specialists say that, calories aside, the fact remains that they are surprisingly healthy.
“Nuts are rich in nutrients, such as unsaturated fatty acids, fiber, vitamins, phenolic antioxidants, arginine and other phytochemicals [chemicals that are naturally occurring in plants]. All of them are known to be beneficial to cardiovascular health,” said researcher Xiao-Ou Shu.
Medical experts with the American Heart Association recommend that people consume 4 servings of nuts on a weekly basis, preferably with no salt and no oil. Although it's almost impossible to stop once you start eating, it must be said that a proper serving size is a small handful.