NUT EATERS HAVE GOOD HEARTS

(Frequent nut consumption and risk of coronary heart disease in women:
 prospective cohort study)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7169/1341

Eating nuts on a regular basis can help to reduce risks of coronary heart
disease, according to a paper published in this week's BMJ.  Dr Frank Hu
and colleagues from Harvard School of Public Health studied the effects
of
eating nuts on over 86,000 (86,016) women aged 34 to 59 years of age in
the
USA from 1980 - 90.

Over this 10 year period the researchers found that those women who ate
nuts more than five times a week were around a third (35 per cent) less
likely to suffer from coronary heart disease.  Even after taking account
of
other confounding factors (such as general diet and exercise) they found
that the reduction was still significant.

Hu et al suggest that the protective effect of nuts may be due to the
unsaturated fats that they contain which have beneficial effects on serum
lipids which in turn help to reduce cholesterol.  They also suggest that
other potentially protective constituents in nuts include vegetable
protein, magnesium, vitamin E and potassium.  They conclude that nuts can
be included as part of a healthy diet.

Contact:

Dr Frank Hu, Research Associate,
Department of Nutrition,
Harvard School of Public Health,
Boston, USA
email: [log in to unmask]
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (C) 1998 by the British Medical Journal.


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