Table 3.
Selected characteristics of the included cohort studies1
| Name of cohort (reference) | Author (year) | Country Sex Age |
Sample size | Exposures Mean/median intake (if reported) |
Outcomes measured | Follow-up time (years) | Overall RoB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adventist Health Study (10) | Fraser (1992) | USA 62.6% female Mean 52.5 years |
26,473 | Nuts | CHD | 6 | Serious |
| ARIC (35, 85) | Haring (2014) | USA 55.8% female 45–64 years |
12,066 | Nuts and peanut butter Median 0.2 servings/day |
CHD | 22 | Moderate |
| Haring (2015) | USA 55.9% female 45–64 years |
11,601 | Nuts and peanut butter Median 0.21 servings/day |
Stroke | 22.7 | Moderate | |
| Blue Mountains Eye study (80) | Gopinath (2015) | Australia 55.9% female Mean 65.4 years |
2,893 | Nuts | CVD mortality IHD mortality Stroke mortality |
15 | Serious |
| EPIC (36, 95, 101, 102) | Buijsse et al. (2015) | 8 European countries 62.7% female Mean 52.2 years |
14,939 | Nuts and seeds Median 0.6 g/day |
T2D | 12.3 | Serious |
| Ibsen (2020) | 8 European countries 62% female Median 53 |
15,450 | Nuts versus red/processed meat | T2D | 12.3 | Serious | |
| Perez-Cornago (2021) | 10 European countries 71.4% female Mean 51.2 years |
490,311 | Nuts and seeds Median 0.775 g/day |
IHD | 12.6 | Serious | |
| Tong (2020) | Multinational (Europe) 66.5% female Mean 51.2 years |
418,329 | Nuts and seeds Median 0.8 g/day |
Stroke | 12.7 | Serious | |
| EPIC-Potsdam (71, 82) | von Ruesten (2013) | Germany 61.3% female 35–65 years |
23,531 | Nuts Median 0.8 g/day |
CVD T2D |
8 | Serious |
| di Giuseppe (2015) | Germany 59% female Mean 51 years |
26,285 | Nuts Median 0.82 g/day |
Stroke | 8.3 | Serious | |
| Golestan Cohort Study (81) | Eslamparast (2017) | Iran 57.5% female Mean 52 years |
49,112 | Nuts Mean 3.5 g/day in men, 2.6 g/day in women |
CVD mortality | 7 | Serious |
| HPFS (73) | Al-Shaar (2020) | USA 100% male 40–75 years |
43,272 | Nuts versus red/processed meat | CHD | ≤30 | Serious |
| Iowa Women’s Health Study (68, 78) | Blomhoff (2006) | USA 100% female 55–69 years |
31,788 | Nuts and peanut butter Mean 2.37 servings/week |
CVD mortality CHD mortality |
15 | Serious |
| Parker (2003) | 35,988 | Nuts and peanut butter | T2D | 12 | Serious | ||
| Isfahan Cohort Study (93) | Mohammadifard (2020) | Iran 51.2% female Mean 50.7 years |
5,432 | Nuts | CVD mortality | 13 | Moderate |
| Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study (87) | Ikehara (2021) | Japan 54% female 45–74 years |
74,793 | Peanuts | CVD IHD Stroke |
14.8 | Serious |
| Linxian Nutrition Intervention Trial (99) | Wang (2016) | China 54.8% female 40–69 years |
2,445 | Nuts Median 0.3 servings/month |
CHD mortality Stroke mortality |
26 | Serious |
| Million Veterans Program (89) | Ivey (2021) | USA 10% female Mean 64 years |
149,827 | Nuts and peanut butter | CVD mortality CAD Stroke |
3.5 | Serious |
| Moli-Sani study (79) | Bonaccio (2015) | Italy 53% female Mean 54.7 years |
19,386 | Nuts | CVD mortality | 4.3 | Serious |
| Netherlands Cohort Study (97, 98) | van den Brandt (2015) | The Netherlands 52.8% female 55–69 years |
3,693 | Nuts and peanut butter Mean 8.1 g nuts/1.4 g peanut butter in men, 4.4 g nuts/1.2 g peanut butter in women |
CVD mortality IHD mortality Stroke mortality |
10 | Moderate |
| van den Brandt (2019) | 3,202 | Nuts versus meat | CVD mortality | 10 | Moderate | ||
| NHS (76, 94) | Bernstein (2010) | USA 100% female 30–55 years |
84,136 | Nuts | CHD | ≤26 | Moderate |
| Pan (2013) | USA 100% female 35–77 years |
137,956 | Nuts Mean 3.36 g/day |
T2D | 10 | Serious | |
| NHS & HPFS (42, 77, 92, 100) | Bernstein (2012) | USA 66% female 30–75 years |
127,160 | Nuts | Stroke | ≤26 | Serious |
| Guasch-Ferré (2017) | USA 80% female 25–75 years |
210,836 | Nuts and peanut butter | CVD CHD Stroke |
≤32 | Serious | |
| Liu (2021) | USA 71.8% female 30–75 years |
93,340 | Walnuts | CVD mortality | ≤20 | Moderate | |
| Wurtz (2021) | USA 81.4% female 25–75 years |
148,853 | Nuts and peanut butter versus red/processed meat | T2D | 4-year periods | Serious | |
| NIH-AARP study (75) | Amba (2019) | USA 43.6% female Median 61.9 years |
374,101 | Nuts Median 2.9 g/day |
CVD mortality T2D mortality |
15.5 | Serious |
| Physicians’ Health Study (74, 83, 86, 90) | Albert (2002) | USA 100% male 40–84 years |
21,454 | Nuts | CHD | 17 | Serious |
| Djoussé (2010) | 21,078 | Nuts and peanut butter | Stroke | 21.1 | Serious | ||
| Kochar (2010) | 20,224 | Nuts | T2D | 19.2 | Serious | ||
| Hshieh (2015) | 20,742 | Nuts and peanut butter Median 1 serving/week |
CVD mortality CHD mortality Stroke mortality |
9.6 | Serious | ||
| PREDIMED (84) | Guasch-Ferré (2013) | Spain 58% female Mean 67 years |
7,216 | Nuts | CVD mortality | 4.8 | Moderate |
| PURE (96) | De Souza (2020) | 16 countries 57.6% female 35–70 years |
85,713 | Nuts Mean 6.4 g/day |
CVD MI Stroke |
9.5 | Moderate |
| SCCS/SMHS/SWHS (43) | Luu (2015) | USA & China 56.6% female 40–79 years |
206,029 | Nuts and peanut butter, only peanuts in SMHS/SWHS SCCS: Mean 12.25 g/day, SMHS/SWHS: 2 g/day |
CVD mortality IHD mortality Stroke mortality T2D mortality |
5.4–12.2 | Moderate |
| Cohort of Swedish Men/Swedish Mammography Cohort (91) | Larsson (2018) | Sweden 46.4% female Mean 57.7 years |
61,364 | Nuts | MI Ischaemic stroke |
17 | Moderate |
| SWHS (70) | Villegas (2008) | China 100% female 40–70 years |
64,191 | Peanuts Mean 1.5 g/day |
T2D | 4.6 | Moderate |
| Takayama Study (44) | Yamakawa (2021) | Japan 54% female ≥35 years |
29,079 | Nuts Mean 1.8 g/day in men, 1.5 g/day in women |
CVD mortality | 13.7 in men, 14.4 in women | Moderate |
| Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study (45) | Asghari (2017) | Iran 53.6% female Mean 40.1 years |
1,984 | Nuts and seeds Median 1.19 servings/week |
T2D | 6.2 | Serious |
| Women’s Health Initiative (37, 72) | Sun (2021) | USA 100% female 50–79 years |
102,521 | Nuts and seeds Median 0.2 oz-equivalents/day |
CVD mortality | 18 | Moderate |
| Yaemsiri (2012) | 87,025 | Nuts | Ischaemic stroke | 7.6 | Moderate | ||
| Women’s Health Study (88) | Imran (2021) | USA 100% female Mean 54.6 years |
39,167 | Nuts | CVD mortality | 19 | Moderate |
1
Abbreviations: CHD, coronary heart disease; CVD, cardiovascular disease; HPFS, Health-Professionals’ Follow-up Study; IHD, ischaemic heart disease; MI, myocardial infarction; NHS, Nurses’ Health Study; RoB, risk of bias; SMHS/SWHS, Shanghai Men’s/Women’s Health Study; T2D, type 2 diabetes; PURE, Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology study.