Prospective Evaluation of the Association of Nut/Peanut Consumption With Total and Cause-Specific Mortality

Year Published: 2015

JAMA Intern Med

Hung N. Luu, MD, PhD, William J. Blot, PhD, Yong-Bing Xiang, MD, MPH, Hui Cai, MD, PhD, Margaret K. Hargreaves, PhD, Honglan Li, MD, MPH, Gong Yang, MD, MPH, Lisa Signorello, ScD, Yu-Tang Gao, MD, Wei Zheng, MD, PhD, and Xiao-Ou Shu, MD, PhD

This aim of this study was to examine the relationship between nut/peanut/peanut butter consumption and mortality across ethnic groups. Authors utilized data from 3 large-scale studies: the Southern Community Cohort Study (SCCS), which analyzed 71,764 low-income whites and African-Americans in the Southeastern US; the Shanghai Men's Health Study (SMHS), which analyzed 61,123 Asian men; and the Shangai Women's Health Study (SWHS), which analyzed 73,142 Asian women.

Key Findings: The main nut consumed was peanuts. Participants in the SCCS consumed 50% peanuts, and peanuts were the only nut examined in both Asian studies since consumption of tree nuts there is so low. Results showed that nut and peanut consumption were associated with a significantly reduced risk of mortality across all the groups. In the SCCS, for example, peanut consumption was associated with a 21% reduced risk of mortality from all causes when comparing the highest consumers to the lowest consumers. The strongest associations were seen between peanut consumption and reduced risk of cardiovascular disease mortality.