Eat a small handful of nuts every day

High value
Evidence A
Buys life
Costs a little
Takes minutes
No willpower

In plain words

People who eat nuts regularly have about a 20% lower chance of dying over the same period than people who don't. Even once a week shows a difference, about 10% lower. The difference is largest at a handful a day.

Cost: 28 g a day costs about 200 to 300 CNY a year. You just eat them, so it takes no time.
What you get: Two U.S. follow-up studies, 119,000 (11.9万) people and more than 3,000,000 (300多万) person-years. Person-years means the number of people times the years each was followed. Compared with people who did not eat nuts: those who ate them less than 1 time a week had about 7% lower risk of death (hazard ratio 0.93, 95% CI 0.90–0.96, the plausible range). 1 time a week was about 11% lower (0.89, 0.86–0.93). 2–4 times a week was about 13% lower (0.87, 0.83–0.90). 5–6 times a week was about 15% lower (0.85, 0.79–0.91). 7 or more times a week was about 20% lower (0.80, 0.73–0.86)
Notes: Buy plain, unsalted nuts. Nuts are not low in calories, so don't treat them as a snack to eat freely. Keep in mind that these studies only followed a group of people over a long time, and people who eat nuts have better lifestyles overall, so discount the numbers somewhat
Evidence grade: A : Specific numbers from meta-analyses, large cohorts or randomized trials; for law and policy, the statute or official text.
Sources: Bao Y, Han J, Hu FB, et al. (2013). Association of nut consumption with total and cause-specific mortality. New England Journal of Medicine, 369(21), 2001-2011. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1307352

Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 2, tip 22. This section is about health and medicines. It is general information, not a substitute for a doctor’s diagnosis or prescription. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer