What if I told you that there is an elixir that makes you live longer?

What if this elixir also suppresses the growth of cancer cells, reduces blood cholesterol and cuts the risk of having a stroke in half? Even better, right ?

Well,this magical potion does exist – but only as a decorative piece on our kitchen shelves. Yes – I am talking about that fancy jar of walnuts,cashewnuts or pistachios you’d bought and forgotten about long back.

PREDIMED, one of the largest interventional dietary trials, split 7,000 people with a high cardiovascular risk(the chance of getting a heart attack or stroke) into different groups and followed them for years. One group received a free 200 grams of nuts every week while the other group was just observed. Without making major shifts in their diet, just the minor tweak of adding nuts appeared to cut stroke risk in half. Additionally, regardless of which group people were assigned to, those eating more nuts every day had a significantly lower risk of dying prematurely.

Many of us are scared of gaining weight with regular nut consumption (or is it the blueberry cheesecake Fridays ? Hmmm).Although high in calories, eating nuts everyday does not lead to the expected weight gain.Nuts extend your lifeline and not your waistline.(Shocking,right?)

We’ve always known nuts are good for us.But now, we have a peek into how good they actually are.This tiny dietary modification of sprinkling a handful of nuts (whichever you like best) to your salad or smoothie or even as a snack can help you get healthier.

And it isn’t as hard as caloric restriction or intermittent fasting, is it?

So what are y’all waiting for?

Go grab that fistful of walnuts and start munching!


For substantiation of any statements of fact from the peer-reviewed medical literature, please refer below –

A Sala-Vila, E S Romero-Mamani, R Gilabert, I Nunez, R de la Torre, D Corella, V Ruiz-Gutierrez, M C Lopez-Sabater, X Pinto, J Rekondo, M A Martinzez-Gonzalez, R Estruch, E Ros. Changes in ultrasound-assessed carotid intima-media thickness and plaque with a Mediterranean diet: a substudy of the PREDIMED trial. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2014 Feb;34(2):439-45.

M de Lorgeril, P Salen, J L Martin, I Monjaud, J Delaye, N Mamelle. Mediterranean diet, traditional risk factors, and the rate of cardiovascular complications after myocardial infarction: final report of the Lyon Diet Heart Study. Circulation. 1999 Feb 16;99(6):779-85.

J Yang, R H Liu, L Halim. Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of common edible nut seeds. Food Science and Technology 2009 42:1 – 8.

Natoli S, McCoy P. A review of the evidence: nuts and body weight. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2007;16(4):588-97.