A prospective study of nut consumption and risk of primary hepatocellular carcinoma in the U.S. women and men

Year Published: 2019

Jing Sui, Wanshui Yang, Yanan Ma, Tricia Y Li, Tracey G Simon, Jeffrey A Meyerhardt, Geyu Liang, Edward L Giovannucci , Andrew T Chan, Xuehong Zhang

This study followed a total of 140,275 men and women from the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study for an average of 27.9 years and looked at the relationship between peanut/tree nut consumption and hepatocarcinoma (liver cancer) risk.

Key Findings: Peanut and peanut butter consumption were associated with reduced hepatocarcinoma risk in men and women. Although this association did not reach statistical significance, the authors note that the reason was likely “because of the limited number of [hepatocarcinoma] cases.” The study noted that the available evidence suggests that peanut consumption may reduce hepatocellular cancer risk by: • Improving insulin sensitivity • Reducing inflammation • Promoting long-term weight management • Lowering type-2 diabetes risk