A Handful of Nuts Intake can Reduce the Risk of Cancer

Nuts are nutritious! They are packed with endless nutrients and help in keeping the diseases at bay. Various researches exclaimed that nuts have potential benefits on a variety of cancers including breast, prostate and colorectal.

Research published earlier stated that nuts may have multiple nutrients that could act in various ways to help decrease the risk of developing cancer in humans. The studies reviewed showed that these nutrients act together to provide more benefit than would be expected from the individual components.

Let’s take a look at how daily consumption of nuts helps in reducing the risk of cancer and other various types of diseases.

How nuts prevent different types of cancer? 

Consuming a handful of nuts on a regular basis can cut down the risk of breast cancer. It gives protection to pregnant women and their child by giving them proper nutrition. It also gives protection to people from colorectal and prostate cancer. Eating nuts could benefit gut bacteria in a way that is helpful to colon health and may be associated with colon tumour suppression.

Nuts hold several bioactive compounds including ellagitannins (ETs), a type of polyphenol. After consumption, ETs are metabolized to release ellagic acid (EA), which is further metabolized by gut microbiota to form urolithins, such as A (UA) and B (UB). A cell study published in the European Journal of Nutrition studied gene expression in prostate cancer cells and found that UA, the main human metabolite of walnut polyphenols, may aid in inhibiting or reducing the risk of prostate cancer from developing. Similarly, another cell study proved that a diet rich in ET-containing foods, such as different types of nuts, could contribute to the prevention of prostate cancer by influencing the regulatory mechanisms in prostate cancer.

Apart from this, nuts are packed with good fat, fibre and protein. Nuts are enriched with monounsaturated fat, omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fat which are considered great for the health. It also contains various Vitamins and minerals including magnesium and Vitamin E that are good for your different organs.

A handful of nuts a day cut down the risk of various diseases

It is said that consuming a handful of nuts daily is associated with a reduced risk of diseases by 22%. The researches revealed that 20 grams consumption of nuts a day can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by 30%, lowers the problems of cardiovascular disease by 21%, and the risk of all cancers by 15%.

Here are some of the types of nuts that help in lowering your risk of cancers and other types of diseases. Add a mix of them in your regular diet for effective results

• Almonds
• Walnuts
• Brazil nuts
• Macadamia nuts
• Pistachios
• Cashews

What else you can do?

Other than adding nuts to your diet you can also incorporate various types of moderate-intensity workouts in your lifestyle to slash down the risk of various big and small diseases. You can do:

• Cycling
• Running
• Swimming
• Kickboxing
• Jogging

Takeaway

A healthy eating pattern that includes a variety of plant-based foods such as vegetables, fruits, grains, oils, nuts and seeds is associated with a reduced risk of certain types of cancers. Nuts are a good source of various types of nutrients like omega 3 fatty acids, fibre and other Vitamins and minerals that are beneficial to make you hale and hearty.