How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease

by Michael Greger

better health but actually cause better health. This is what PREDIMED ended up doing.9 More than seven thousand men and women at high cardiovascular risk were randomized into different diet groups and followed for years. One of the groups received a free half pound of nuts every week. In addition to eating more nuts, they were told to improve their diets in other ways, such as eating more fruits and vegetables and less meat and dairy, but weren’t as successful at any of those other goals compared to the control group. Nevertheless, having a free half pound of nuts sent to them every week for four consecutive years did indeed persuade them to start eating more nuts.10 (It’s too bad the researchers couldn’t have slipped in a little free broccoli too!) At baseline, before the study even started, the thousands assigned to the nut group were already eating about half an ounce of nuts a day. Thanks to the ensuing freebies, they ended up bumping up their consumption to a whole ounce (about a handful). As a result, the study was able to determine what happens when people at high risk for heart disease following a particular diet eat an extra half ounce of nuts every day. With no significant differences in meat and dairy intake, there were no significant differences in saturated fat or cholesterol intake. So, unsurprisingly, there were no significant differences in their blood cholesterol levels or the subsequent number of heart attacks. However, the added-nuts group did end up hav...