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An ounce of nuts a day

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Video: It doesnt matter what kind of nuts you eat the health benefits can be life-saving,
according to a large study from researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and
Womens Hospital and Harvard. Just one ounce a day seven times a week were 20 percent less
likely to die from a variety of causes such as heart disease, stroke, cancer and respiratory illness.
NBCs Tom Costello reports.

An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but if you want to live
longer, a handful of nuts may be a better bet, researchers reported
Wednesday.
The biggest study yet into whether nuts can add years to your life

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shows that people who ate nuts every day were 20 percent less likely
to die from heart disease, cancer or any other cause over 30 years
than people who didnt eat them.
And not only that, nuts seem to help keep the pounds off, the team
at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Womens Hospital, and
the Harvard School of Public Health found.
The most obvious benefit was a reduction of 29 percent in deaths
from heart disease the major killer of people in America, said Dr.
Charles Fuchs of Dana-Farber, who led the team. But we also saw a
significant reduction 11 percent in the risk of dying from

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cancer."
Even peanuts, which technically arent nuts but legumes, helped. "We
dont see any difference in the benefits between peanuts and tree
nuts," Fuchs said.

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/aw-nuts-handful-day-may-help-you-live-longer-docs-2D... 11/21/2013

Go nuts! A handful a day may help you live longer, docs say - NBC News.com

NUT
Go nuts! A
handful a day
may help you
live longer,
docs say

OLYMPICS
Lindsey Vonn
tears her right
ACL again, but
her prognosis
isn't yet clear

MERCURY
Women still
eating fish, but
consuming
less mercury

HEALTH
Unemployment
stress may
cause men to
age faster,
study finds

DEEDS
Four hours to
find help:
Virginia attack
highlights US
mental health
crisis

The study, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, is a

follow-up to many different, smaller studies that have found all sorts
of benefits from eating nuts. In 2003, on the basis of those findings,
the Food and Drug Administration concluded that for most nuts,
eating 43 grams a day, or about 1.5 ounces, as part of a low-fat diet,
may reduce the risk of heart disease, Fuchs and colleagues wrote.
Studies have found that people who eat nuts have all sorts of

Page 2 of 5

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biological benefits: less inflammation, which is linked to heart

disease and cancer; less fat packed around the internal organs;
better blood sugar levels; lower blood pressure and even fewer
gallstones.
In May, researchers reported that people already eating a healthy
diet who added nuts or olive oil to their diets were less likely to
suffer memory loss and in February scientists reported that
theycut the risk of heart attacks and strokes by 30 percent.

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Both reports were based on a randomized study, in which people

were assigned to eat extra nuts and olive oil. These randomized
studies are considered more powerful, because people dont choose
which diet to adopt, so other outside factors dont interfere with the
results. For instance, people who choose to eat nuts might also
dislike meat, or they might like sweets, or they might exercise more
or less than people who dont think much about eating nuts.
But no large study has looked at whether these benefits translate to
a longer life.

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So Fuchs' team looked at two big studies the 120,000-person

Nurses Health Study, which has been watching volunteers since
1976, and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, involving more
than 50,000 men and dating back to 1986.

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Theyre so-called observational studies they cannot prove cause
and effect. But they also were done in real-time people were
interviewed over the years, so theyre more likely to really show what
was happening.

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3 Early Signs of
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People were asked every few years how often they had eaten a
serving of nuts: never or almost never, one to three times a month,
once a week, two to four times a week, five or six times a week, once
a day, two or three times a day, four to six times a day, or more than
six times a day.
They threw out smokers and the obese and took into account weight,
other aspects of diet and salt intake.
People who ate nuts seven or more times per week had a 20 percent
lower death rate, the researchers found.
In all these analyses, the more nuts people ate, the less likely they
were to die over the 30-year follow-up period, said Dr. Ying Bao of

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Brigham and Womens Hospital. Just eating nuts every once in a

while lowered the death rate by 7 percent over 30 years. Eating nuts
once a week lowered the death rate 11 percent, while people who
ate nuts five to six times a week had a 15 percent lower death rate.
As compared with participants who consumed nuts less frequently,
those who consumed nuts more frequently were leaner, less likely to
smoke, more likely to exercise, and more likely to use multivitamin

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/aw-nuts-handful-day-may-help-you-live-longer-docs-2D... 11/21/2013

Go nuts! A handful a day may help you live longer, docs say - NBC News.com

NUT
Go nuts! A
handful a day
may help you
live longer,
docs say

Page 3 of 5

supplements; they also consumed more fruits and vegetables and

drank more alcohol, Fuchs and colleagues wrote.

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It's not clear what it is about the nuts that helps, says Fuchs. "We are
really looking to understand what are the bioactive compounds in
nuts," he says. It might be that nuts replace unhealthy snacks in the

3 Early Signs of
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OLYMPICS
Lindsey Vonn
tears her right
ACL again, but
her prognosis
isn't yet clear

diet, but he thinks something more is going on perhaps an effect

on inflammation or metabolism.

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Eating nuts and gaining weight don't always go together. It's a

matter of portion control and moderation, said NBC News Health

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And people who ate nuts gained less weight over time than people
who didnt.

and Diet Editor Madelyn Fernstrom.

As a good source of protein, heart-healthy fat, vitamins, minerals,

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fiber, and several antioxidants nuts are one of nature's nutrient-rich

foods, Fernstrom said. But stick to a handful. More than that daily
might pack on the pounds.
The study was paid for by the National Institutes of Health and the

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Men's sexual
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International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research & Education

Foundation, but the Council had no say in how the study was done or
how its results were eventually reported.
Fuchs says he's changed his eating habits because of the findings.
"As a matter of fact, I went to a movie theater last month and my
wife got popcorn and I got almonds," he says. "She asked me, 'Did
you do that because of the study?' and I said, 'Yes.'"

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Lindsey Vonn tears her right ACL

again, but her prognosis isn't yet
clear

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/aw-nuts-handful-day-may-help-you-live-longer-docs-2D... 11/21/2013

Go nuts! A handful a day may help you live longer, docs say - NBC News.com

NUT
Go nuts! A
handful a day
may help you
live longer,
docs say

Page 4 of 5

Melissa Dahl, NBC News

3

hours ago

OLYMPICS
Lindsey Vonn
tears her right
ACL again, but
her prognosis
isn't yet clear

MERCURY
Women still
eating fish, but
consuming
less mercury

Vonns type of injury takes

a long time to heal

HEALTH
Unemployment
stress may
cause men to
age faster,
study finds

DEEDS
Four hours to
find help:
Virginia attack
highlights US
mental health
crisis

ASTELLAS
FDA warns
doctors of
heart risks with
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test chemicals

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Men's sexual
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Video: In a statement today, the spokesperson for Olympic downhill skiing champion Lindsey
Vonn said Vonn sustained a mild strain to her right knee, a partial tear to her right ACL, minor
facial abrasions and scapular contusions from the fall NBCs Miguel Almaguer reports.

News that Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn suffered another ACL

injury to her right knee in a crash during training on Tuesday has
U.S. ski fans wondering: How bad is the tear to her ligament and will
it impact her health long term?

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Lindsey sustained a mild strain to her right knee, a partial tear to

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her right ACL, minor facial abrasions and scapular contusions from
her fall, her publicist said in an email on Wednesday afternoon. She

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needs to rest for a few days and then will pursue aggressive physical
therapy and will determine the next time she is able to compete after

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seeing how she responds to the treatment.

IKEA.com/2014-Catalogue

A partial tear doesnt tell us much about Vonns prognosis, said Dr.

Catalogue.

Daryl Rosenbaum, a sports medicine physician at Wake Forest

Baptist Medical Center. (Rosenbaum has not seen Vonns injury or
treated her, but could speak generally about ACL injuries in athletes.)
It could mean Vonn is able to function normally -- or it could mean
her knee is functioning as bad as it would be if the ligament had torn
completely. If its the former, she could be back on her skis in a few
days to a week, Rosenbaum says. But if its the latter, and her knee is
slipping and sliding as she tries to use it, thats a bad sign,
Rosenbaum says, because an ACL injury may require surgery, which
can mean up to nine months of recovery time.
Vonn injured the same
knee earlier this year,
when she crashed in
the World
Championships in
February. She tore her
ACL, MCL and
fractured her lateral
tibial plateau; that
time, she needed her
Michel Cottin/Agence Zoom / Getty Images

ACL to be surgically

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/aw-nuts-handful-day-may-help-you-live-longer-docs-2D... 11/21/2013

Go nuts! A handful a day may help you live longer, docs say - NBC News.com

NUT
Go nuts! A
handful a day
may help you
live longer,
docs say

OLYMPICS
Lindsey Vonn
tears her right
ACL again, but
her prognosis
isn't yet clear

MERCURY
Women still
eating fish, but
consuming
less mercury

AL D'ISERE, FRANCE - DECEMBER 14: (FRANCE OUT)

Lindsey Vonn of the USA during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski
World Cup Women's Downhill on December 14, 2012 in
Val d'Isere, France. (Photo by Michel Cottin/Agence
Zoom/Getty Images)

Page 5 of 5

reconstructed. After an
ACL reconstruction,
female athletes are
particularly vulnerable
to a second ACL injury,

a recent study showed.

ACL injuries are common among skiers.
Theyre putting such incredible force on their knees their knees are
rotating, while absorbing force, while their foot and upper body are
going in different directions, sometimes having to stop suddenly
and all this force and speed and this long lever on their foot taking
them one way while their body goes another, Rosenbaum says.
Vonns publicist said Wednesday afternoon that further updates

HEALTH
Unemployment
stress may
cause men to
age faster,
study finds

DEEDS
Four hours to
find help:
Virginia attack
highlights US
mental health
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ASTELLAS
FDA warns
doctors of
heart risks with
Astellas stress
test chemicals

MEN'S HEALTH
Men's sexual
desire linked to
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would be provided when new information becomes available.

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