Eating almonds, walnuts may help fight colon cancer: Study
What's the story
People with colon cancer who regularly eat almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, and cashews are at significantly lower risk of cancer recurrence and mortality than those who do not, a study claims. Researchers at Yale University Cancer Center in the US followed 826 participants in a clinical trial for a median of 6.5 years after they were treated with surgery and chemotherapy.
Nut consumers
Regular nut consumers demonstrated 42% improvement in disease-free survival
Those who regularly consumed at least two one-ounce servings of nuts each week demonstrated a 42% improvement in disease-free survival and a 57% improvement in overall survival. "Further analysis of this cohort revealed that disease-free survival increased by 46% among the subgroup of nut consumers who ate tree nuts rather than peanuts," said Charles S Fuchs, Director of Yale Cancer Center.
Health benefits
Consuming nuts may also reduce insulin resistance
Many previous studies have reported that nuts, among other health benefits, may help reduce insulin resistance, a condition in which the body has difficulty processing the insulin hormone and leads to unhealthy levels of sugar in the blood. Nuts also play a positive role by satisfying hunger with less intake of carbohydrates or other foods associated with poor outcomes, Fuchs noted.