London:
A new study by Harvard Medical School has revealed that eating nuts could cut women's risk of developing heart disease particularly those suffering from diabetes -- in fact, it can slash the risk by almost half.
"These data suggest frequent nut and peanut butter consumption is associated with a significantly lower CVD risk in women with Type 2 diabetes," the authors of the study were quoted by 'The Daily Telegraph' as saying.
In fact, the researchers have based their findings on an analysis of 6,000 women who ate lots of nuts or peanut butter. And, all the subjects were asked to complete a food questionnaire every two to four years between 1980 and 2002.
The number of women suffering from conditions such as heart attack or stroke, or needing revascularisation treatment for heart disease, was also recorded.
Overall, there were 452 coronary "events" such as heart attack or revascularisation -- surgery to improve bloody circulation -- and 182 cases of stroke, the findings of the study have revealed.
Women at the start of the study who consumed more nuts and peanut butter were leaner, more physically active and tended to smoke less, the researchers found.
After adjusting for those factors that could influence the results, they found women who ate at least five servings per week of nuts or peanut butter had a 44 per cent lower risk of heart disease and events such as heart attack or stroke.
A serving was defined as 28 gm of nuts or 16 gm (one tablespoon) of peanut butter.
Experts have welcomed the research. Ellen Mason of the British Heart Foundation said: "It is beneficial to include nuts in our diets as they are low in the saturated fats that raise our cholesterol.
"However, peanut products can be full of added sugar or salt so check the label first as this may cancel out their positive benefits. Also don't forget that nuts are high in overall calories.
"Eating more of one food in isolation will not make much difference to your health if you are inactive and don't have a balanced diet. Unfortunately, preventing heart disease is more complicated than just eating peanuts."
The findings are published in the latest issue of 'The Journal of Nutrition'.