Eating peanuts may extend your life

Health studies rarely involve people on opposite sides of the globe who have very different lifestyles. However, researchers at Vanderbilt Medical School took that approach when they pooled data from dietary studies of 72,000 men and women in the southeastern United States and 135,000 people in Shanghai, China. It turns out that the Americans and Chinese have something in common—they both eat a lot of peanuts—and they may be living longer as a result.

All of the participants filled out detailed questionnaires on the foods they ate regularly. The research team noted that peanuts accounted for 50% of nuts eaten by Americans and almost all the nuts consumed by the Chinese.