The Study
Nut consumption and decreased risk of sudden cardiac death in the Physicians' Health Study.
This study watched a bunch of male doctors for 17 years and noticed that those who ate nuts more often were less likely to have a sudden heart attack that killed them. But it didn’t make them eat nuts — it just watched what they already did, so we can’t be sure the nuts were the reason.
Analysis score
Maximum 72 for a cohort study.
Where the score came from
This study looked at whether eating nuts helps prevent sudden heart deaths in men.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 568 / 100
Quality score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Even eating nuts once a week might help, and the more often you eat them, the lower your risk seems to be — but only for sudden heart deaths, not heart attacks or other heart problems.
- 2Men who ate nuts at least twice a week had a 47% lower chance of sudden heart death and a 30% lower chance of dying from heart disease overall.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Archives of internal medicine
Year
2002
Authors
C. Albert, J. Gaziano, W. Willett, J. Manson
Related Content
Claims (6)
People who eat nuts have lower rates of death from heart disease and gastric cancer compared to those who do not.
Men who ate nuts at least twice a week had a 47% lower rate of sudden cardiac death than men who rarely or never ate nuts, based on data adjusted for age, smoking, alcohol, exercise, and other dietary habits.
Eating nuts does not lower the risk of nonsudden heart attacks or heart-related deaths that are not sudden. Any benefit from nuts may be limited to preventing sudden cardiac death.
Men who ate nuts at least twice a week were 30% less likely to die from coronary heart disease than men who rarely ate nuts, primarily because fewer died suddenly from heart rhythm problems.
People who eat nuts have a lower risk of sudden cardiac death, even when accounting for how much fish they eat.
People who eat nuts have a lower risk of sudden cardiac death, and this benefit is seen even in those who eat nuts only once a week, with no minimum amount required to observe the association.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.