The Study
Frequency of nut consumption and mortality risk in the PREDIMED nutrition intervention trial
This study found that people who ate more nuts tended to live longer, but it didn’t make people eat more nuts — it just watched what they were already eating. So we can’t say nuts made them live longer, just that people who ate nuts were often healthier in other ways too.
Analysis score
Maximum 72 for a cohort study.
Where the score came from
Scientists studied older people at risk for heart disease to see if eating nuts every week helped them live longer.
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 572 / 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.
- 1Yes — eating nuts regularly was linked to a big drop in death risk, even after accounting for other healthy habits.
- 2People who ate more than 3 servings of nuts a week were 39% less likely to die over nearly 5 years.
- 3Those who ate walnuts had a 45% lower risk.
- 4People who already ate nuts and were given more nuts as part of their diet had a 63% lower risk of dying.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
BMC Medicine
Year
2013
Authors
M. Guasch-Ferré, M. Bulló, M. Martínez-González, E. Ros, D. Corella, R. Estruch, M. Fitó, F. Arós, J. Wärnberg, M. Fiol, J. Lapetra, E. Vinyoles, R. Lamuela-Raventós, L. Serra-Majem, X. Pintó, V. Ruíz-Gutiérrez, J. Basora, J. Salas‐Salvadó
Related Content
Claims (10)
People who eat walnuts have a lower rate of death from any cause compared to those who do not.
People who eat different types of nuts have different levels of mortality risk, and walnuts are linked to a greater reduction in mortality risk compared to other nuts.
People who eat nuts have a lower rate of death from any cause compared to those who do not eat nuts.
Adults aged 55 to 80 with high cardiovascular risk who eat more than three servings of walnuts per week have a 45% lower risk of dying from any cause over nearly five years compared to those who eat fewer servings.
Adults aged 55 to 80 with high cardiovascular risk who eat more than three servings of nuts per week have a 40% lower rate of death from cancer over nearly five years compared to those who eat fewer servings.
Adults aged 55 to 80 with high cardiovascular risk who eat more than three servings of nuts per week have a 39% lower risk of dying from any cause over about 4.8 years, compared to those who eat fewer servings, after accounting for diet, smoking, physical activity, and other health factors.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.