For the second time in less than a week, a major U.S. study has shown the benefits of nuts in keeping adult hearts healthy. Hot on the heels of news from a meeting of the American Heart Association in Dallas that nuts were good for keeping the heart pumping regularly, scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, published more proof. In a report in the British Medical Journal on Friday, Dr Frank Hu said his research of more than 86,000 women showed that women who ate nuts more than five times a week for 10 years were a third less likely to have heart problems than other women. Nuts are high in fat but most of the fatty acids are unsaturated. Hu and his colleagues believe unsaturated fats act on serum lipids which help to reduce cholesterol.
Nuts are also rich in vegetable protein, magnesium, vitamin E, fibre and potassium.
The research supports similar findings announced in Dallas on Monday. A long-term study of 22,000 doctors showed nuts may prevent an irregular heart rhythm called ventricular fibrillation that can cause sudden death.