Experts, in a study, have said that older adults who ate nuts daily had significantly lower risk for death, onset of dementia, or physical disability.
In a prospective cohort study, they suggested that daily nut consumption corresponded with a sustained healthy lifespan that lacked adverse health outcomes like dementia or physical disabilities.
The findings, published in Age and Ageing, said an even stronger association between eating nuts daily and a disability-free lifespan among older adults who had a less-than-optimal diet.
Study participants who ate nuts daily had significantly lower risk for death, onset of dementia, or physical disability.
In the study, the researchers aimed to assess the effects of daily nut consumption on disability-free survival (DFS) among a cohort of 9,916 Australian participants aged 70 years or older from the ASPREE Longitudinal Study of Older Persons.
Participants had completed a 49-item food frequency questionnaire, which asked them to categorise nut intake as never or infrequent (one to two times a month), weekly (one to two times a week), or daily (once or several times a day).
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Alice J. Owens, from the Monash University School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine in Australia, reacted by saying that the finding “was an important result.”
According to her, “Incorporating a serving of nuts or nut pastes or butters into your diet regularly is straightforward advice, so we hope that primary care providers might consider this.
“We feel that this represents a health outcome that many older adults would find meaningful and relevant, as it supports the capacity to live an independent and fulfilling life in older age.
“But based on dietary research to date, I would say consuming a variety of nuts might be a good choice, but of course, this will be dictated by availability.”
“Different nuts have different macro- and micronutrient compositions, so if you are in a position to eat a variety of nuts over the year, you can get the benefits of that variety of nutrients. Choosing foods that are ‘in season’ also allows you to consume foods that have optimal nutritional content.”
Prior studies have tied nut intake to several health benefits, including a reduced cardiovascular disease risk and slower cognitive decline.