Peanuts & nuts

What it does

Unsaturated fats, fiber and minerals — a handful is enough.

• Fewer deaths, all causes

Where the number comes from

Peanuts & nuts sits in the nuts group of the Fadnes model, the only peer-reviewed model that converts eating into years of life. The lifetime gain for that group is spread across the days you actually eat it — a daily serving from age 20 to 80 — which gives +44 min per serving. The authors rate the evidence behind this group as moderate.

What it is made of

• Unsaturated fat
• Magnesium
• Vitamin E

Which kind

• Peanut — cheapest — and it counted in the study
• Walnut — most ALA omega-3
• Almond — vitamin E and fibre
• Salted / fried nuts — salt undoes the blood-pressure side

How to eat it

Unsalted, daily, any nut — peanuts count.

Source: Bao et al. · New England Journal of Medicine, 2013 (cohort).

Minutes derived from Fadnes LT, Økland J-M, Haaland ØA, Johansson KA. Estimating impact of food choices on life expectancy: A modeling study. PLOS Medicine 19(2):e1003889, 2022. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1003889