Nuts and Heart Health

Forget salted or roasted nuts. A handful of raw nuts — pistachios, almonds or walnuts — four times a week can reduce your risk of coronary disease by 37 percent, says the British Journal of Nutrition.

The more frequently nuts are eaten the better, as benefits appear to increase with increased consumption. The 1990's Adventist Health Study of a large population of California Seventh Day Adventists found that in addition to reducing the risk of heart attack by up to 60 percent, eating nuts was one of the four top factors for extending longevity. The beneficial effects were found for men, women, vegetarians, meat-eaters, fatter people, thinner people, the old, the young, those who exercise and those who don't.

Calculations suggest that daily nut eaters gain an extra five to six years of life free of coronary disease, and an overall longevity increase of two years.

Eating nuts also reduces your risk of developing diabetes, dementia, advanced macular degeneration, gallstones and stroke.