Welcome to Day 11 of Heart Smart. What should I eat for a Healthy Heart? Nuts!
The Study
Nut consumption is associated with lower risk of heart disease. Researchers published a study on this topic in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in 2017. Over 200,000 patients were included in the study from 3 large databases and followed from 1980 – 2013. All were free of heart disease at the beginning of the study.
Results
Those that consumed nuts 5x per week or more had a 15-23% lower risk of heart disease than those who rarely or never at nuts. Walnuts seem to be the best choice. However, all nuts showed benefit. This is one of ten studies that show decrease in heart disease with having nuts in your diet on a regular basis.
Nutty Tips
Watch your portions, a handful is enough. Nuts contain a lot of fat and calories.
So while gearing up for March Madness and binging on basketball, rather than
grabbing a bag of Doritos, try some mixed nuts instead!
Check out our website for other healthy heart tips throughout the month of February!
Dr. Tracy
Nut consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease. J Am Coll Cardiol 2017 Nov
