Eating Nuts Regularly Lowers Risk of Heart Rhythm Irregularity

Eating more nuts each week can help lower the risk of developing the atrial fibrillation (irregular heart rhythm) also known as heart flutter, reveals a new study.

Highlights:

Eating many servings of nuts each week can help lower the risk of developing atrial fibrillation (irregular heart rhythm)
Nuts are rich in healthy fats, minerals, and antioxidants. All these are heart healthy.

Eating more nuts each week can help lower the risk of developing atrial fibrillation (irregular heart rhythm) also known as heart flutter, reveals research published in the journal Heart.//

Research indicates that eating this amount of nuts may also reduce the risk of developing heart failure, but the findings are not so consistent.

Atrial Fibrillation - Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, Complication, Risks
Atrial fibrillation may not be life-threatening in itself but it is important to understand the causes, symptoms and treatments because of the risk of life-threatening complications.

‘Regular eating of nuts is associated with a lower risk of heart disease. Nuts are heart healthy and rich in healthy fats, minerals,antioxidants. Consuming nuts frequently in a week can lower the risk of atrial fibrillation.’

There have been many earlier studies linking regular eating of nuts with a lower risk of heart disease or stroke and associated death. However, it was not clearly established which particular aspects of cardiovascular disease are associated with nut consumption.

To explore this angle in detail, the research team used the completed Food Frequency Questionnaire responses and lifestyle information from over 61,000 Swedish 45-83 year olds. Their heart health was tracked for 17 years, till the end of 2014 or until death, whichever came first.

Findings of the study

Health Benefits of Nuts
Nuts are power house of nutrition having health benefits ranging from weight loss to reducing risk of diabetes and heart attack.

People who ate nuts regularly were:

better educated had healthier lifestyles
less likely to smoke
less likely to have high blood pressure
ate more fruit and vegetables

During the monitoring period, it was observed that there were

4983 heart attacks, of which 917 were fatal
3160 cases of heart failure
7550 cases of atrial fibrillation
972 cases of aortic valve narrowing
983 abdominal aortic aneurysms (a bulge or swelling in the aorta, a major artery)
3782 cases of stroke caused by a blood clot (ischaemic)
543 caused by a brain bleed (intracerebral haemorrhage)

By taking account of the age and sex, nut consumption was linked to a reduced risk of heart attack, heart failure, atrial fibrillation and abdominal aortic aneurysm.

However, when many risk factors were accounted for, mainly lifestyle, general diet, diabetes, and family history, only links with atrial fibrillation and with heart failure emerged.

Health Benefits of Cashew Nuts
There are many health benefits of cashew nuts. Cashew nuts can be eaten raw or roasted and can be used to make many healthy recipes.

The findings showed the more frequently the nuts were included in the diet so much lower was the associated risk of atrial fibrillation. Eating one serving of nuts one to three times every month was associated with a reduced risk of just 3 percent. Eating nuts once or twice a week lowered the risk by 12 percent. Eating nuts more frequently, three or more times a week lowered the risk 18 percent.

For heart failure, the findings were less consistent. They were moderate, but not high, and weekly nut consumption was associated with a 20 percent lower risk.

Health Benefits of Peanuts
When eating peanuts, it is important to be aware of the calories in peanuts. There are many health benefits of peanuts. Hence, consuming them in moderation is important for good health.

The study is important because of its large size and a large number of cardiovascular disease cases reported during the monitoring period.

Nuts are rich in healthy fats, minerals, and antioxidants. All these are heart healthy.

"Nut consumption or factors associated with this nutritional behavior may play a role in reducing the risk of atrial fibrillation and possibly heart failure," the research team observed.

"Since only a small proportion of this population had moderate (about 5%) or high (less than 2%) nut consumption, even a small increase in nut consumption may have large potential to lead to a reduction in incidence of atrial fibrillation and heart failure in this population."the research team suggested.

Source-Medindia