Peanuts may help you live longer, study finds

A peanut a day keeps the doctor away.

A new study, conducted by Maastricht University, finds that people who eat tree nuts and peanuts daily "have lower mortality rates" for a variety of diseases.

According to the research published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, people who ate "at least 10 grams of nuts or peanuts" each day are more protected against major causes of death such as cancer, heart disease and respiratory disease.

“It was remarkable that substantially lower mortality was already observed at consumptions levels of 15 grams (equivalent to half a handful) of nuts or peanuts on average per day,” said Professor Piet can den Brant, who led the study.

What makes peanuts and tree nuts so effective against certain diseases is that they contain fatty acids, vitamins, fiber, antioxidants and other healthy compounds, researchers said. Interestingly, peanut butter was not shown to lower mortality rates because it contains trans fatty acids and salt—which could actually impact the positive effects from natural peanuts, the study found.