In a seven-year study, following 800 stage III colorectal cancer patients who had received surgery and chemotherapy, those who ate at least 2 ounces of nuts a week had a 42 per cent lowered risk of recurrence and a 57 per cent lower risk of dying from the disease.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) patients filled out diet questionnaires, including questions about the amount of nuts they ate.
Nearly 1 in 5 patients (19 percent) said they ate at least 2 ounces of nuts a week, and researchers found both a lower risk of cancer recurrence and higher overall survival in that group.
It is important to note the type of nut. The benefit was only found with tree nuts such as walnuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, pecans and pistachios. Peanuts offered no benefit.
The research was conducted by a team at the Dana-Faber Institute in Boston and funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Chris Woollams, former Oxford University Biochemist and founder of CANCERactive, added, "This is the second study in a couple of months showing that diet and lifestyle can significantly increase real survival in colorectal cancer. The other one showed Diet and Lifestyle changes over-ruled the orthodox treatment benefits. But then it says all this in our best selling book, the Rainbow Diet, and in many places on this Website. Unfortunately, the researchers did not offer any clues as to whether the benefits were due to the fibre, the additional magnesium, and/or something else. We know that low fibre in the diet, and low magnesium are linked to an increased risk of CRC."