This is an astonishing and wonderful finding, isn't it?! It is probably worth unpacking a little bit - unless it turns out that eating nuts allows us to defeat biology and reach physical immortality.... (never count anything out, right??!)
In a nutshell (!!) four large cohort studies have all concluded that if you eat nuts several times a week you have a 30-50% lower risk of heart attack, sudden cardiac death or cardiovascular disease.
Nuts have this effect for several reasons. Their unsaturated fats help lower LDL ('bad') cholesterol and raise HDL ('good') cholesterol. The omega-3 fatty acids in nuts may prevent the development of erratic heart rhythms. Also, nuts contain arginine, an amino acid that is used to make nitric oxide which relaxes constricted blood vessels and eases blood flow.
"We found that people who ate nuts every day lived longer, healthier lives than people who didn't eat nuts," said Dr. Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, who co-authored one of the studies. According to his study - which covered nearly 120,000 people - those who ate nuts daily were 20% less likely to have died during the course of the 30 year study. The more often people ate nuts, the lower their risk of premature death.
Contrary to popular opinion, eating a lot of nuts does not make you gain weight! (Unless you pair them with other less healthy foods). Several studies have found that frequent nut eaters are less likely to gain weight - probably because they are high in protein and fibre, which delays absorption and decreases hunger.
The scientists recommend including a variety of nuts in your diet, because all nuts have different health benefits. Having a little bit of everything covers all bases.
So there we have it - eat nuts and prevent death! And obviously, the better quality nut the longer you can prevent death for.... (that is my own extrapolation - no science for that).
Sources:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2161831323003095?via%3Dihub
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5748761/
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/eating-nuts-linked-to-healthier-longer-life-201311206893
https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/nuts-for-the-heart/