Relationship of tree nut, peanut and peanut butter intake with total and cause-specific mortality: a cohort study and meta-analysis.

High intake of peanuts and tree nuts may reduce the risk of dying from cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular, respiratory, and neurodegenerative disease.

This study investigated the effect of high dietary intake of peanuts, peanut butter, and tree nuts on mortality risk. Researchers tracked the mortality records and systematically reviewed data on dietary and lifestyle habits of 120,852 men and women within the age bracket of 55-69 years recruited from the Netherlands Cohort Study.

The team of investigators found out that a decrease in total and cause-specific mortality risk was associated with peanut, total, and tree nut consumption. In contrast, generous intake of peanut butter was found to have little or no effect on the odds of dying from chronic diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular, respiratory, and neurodegenerative diseases. The results of this study show that regular ingestion of peanuts and tree nuts may contribute positively to the prevention of deaths from cancer, cardiovascular, respiratory, diabetes, and neurodegenerative disease.