Study Links Nuts with Lower Death Rates

Eating tree nuts, peanuts and peanut butter may help people live longer, a new study suggests. The study looked at diet and death rates for more than 200,000 people. They were part of 3 long-term studies in China and the southeastern United States. The 2 Chinese studies asked people about the amount of peanuts they ate. The U.S. study asked about all nuts, but half of the nuts people ate were peanuts or peanut butter. Overall, people who ate the most nuts consumed about 2 tablespoons a day. Researchers kept track of people for 5.4 to 12.2 years, depending on the study. During follow-up, people who ate the most nuts were 20% less likely to die than those who ate the least. These numbers were adjusted to account for other things that can affect death rates, such as diabetes and smoking. Researches also looked at specific causes of death.