Nuts were first eaten in Anatolia, in what is now Turkey. From there, they were brought to the Mediterranean and then to Europe, from where they were shipped to North America. The so-called tree nuts include almonds, brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts. As a group, they are some of the tastiest medicines you can find.

Nuts save lives. This has been shown in several large population studies from around the world. In the Adventists Health Study1, the Iowa Women’s Health Study2, the Nurses Health Study3 and the Physicians Health Study4, a total of over 175,000 were studied for up to 15 years. Each of these studies found that people who ate more nuts had much less risk of dying of cardiac causes. On average, eating nuts cut their risk in half.

One reason is that nuts are rich in healthy monounsaturated fats, including the same oleic acid in olive oil, which have anti-inflammatory effects. Another is their soluble fibre, which improves blood sugar. Nuts are also filled with antioxidants. Pistachios are rich in beta-sitosterol and other phytosterols, but alnuts pack the biggest antioxidant punch by far, and are rich in linoleic acid and ALA – the healing omega-3 fats of the plant world. There are probably other good things in nuts that we have not found yet.

Most people shy away from nuts because of their high fat content, but they do not lead to weight gain or other health problems. Most studies show that nuts actually lower cholesterol, and in dozens of studies on nut-rich diets, no one has gained a single pound. They even prevent gallstones, probably due to their magnesium content. The message: you'd be crazy not to eat more nuts.

1. Arch Intern Med 1992;152:1416-24.
2. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 2001;11:372.
3. JAMA 2002;288:2554-60.
4. Arch Intern Med 2002;162:1382-87.