Could eating nuts be a strategy to fight off the Big Three health problems: heart disease, cancer and diabetes? The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved food label claims that nuts may reduce risk of heart disease (as part of a heart-healthy diet).

Research offers several reasons why including nuts in an overall healthy diet might lower risk of not just heart disease, but cancer and diabetes, too. The strongest health benefits of nuts relate to heart health.

An analysis of four large U.S. population studies showed that those who ate the most nuts had about 35 percent lower risk of developing heart disease. Nut consumption is linked to reduced levels of both total and LDL cholesterol, which scientists say explains much of their heart-health benefits.

The LDL-lowering may also be due to nut compounds called phytosterols. Phytosterols are cholesterol-like compounds that can lower the levels of LDL cholesterol. However, the amount in a daily serving of nuts is only a fraction (less than 6 percent) of targets for cholesterol reduction. Other scientists pin nuts’ apparent heart-health benefits on their anti-inflammatory effects. Another boost to heart health that won’t show up in blood cholesterol levels may come from nuts’ antioxidants, such as vitamin E.

The antioxidant, anti-inflammatory effects of nuts could also give nuts a role in lowering cancer risk, although direct evidence is limited. Preliminary studies linking nut consumption with lower insulin resistance also suggest that nuts could play a role in reducing risk of diabetes. Yet there is wide variability in many of the studies’ results, which suggests that how we consume nuts may influence their health effects.

In the United States, people mostly eat nuts as snacks. If the concentrated calories found in nuts are simply added to a diet, it can make weight control difficult. This is especially a problem when people add nuts to their diet by eating them in high-calorie foods such as candy, cookies and other baked goods. Since being overweight increases risk of all the big three health problems, increasing calories is a significant negative.

Instead, try toasted nuts in salads as replacements for high-fat cheese or croutons. Use nuts to add crunch to low fat stir-fried or steamed vegetables. Don’t risk sitting in front of the television snacking on an open can of nuts. Scoop out one handful in a small cup to replace snacks like cookies, pretzels or crackers.

The type of nuts we select may also make a difference. A serving of salted nuts are as high in sodium as a small bag of potato chips. And at least half of the antioxidants in nuts are lost when the soft skin called the pellicle is removed. Walnuts are almost always eaten with the pellicle, yet almonds and peanuts may not have the pellicle.

Research establishing nuts’ place in a health-promoting diet is far from ironclad. But the potential is clearly there, as long as you eat them in moderate portions as a replacement for other high-calorie, less-nutritious foods like chips, sweets or fatty meats.
References:
1. Karen Collins, MS, RD, CDN American Institute for Cancer Research.

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