On cold winter days, have a handful of nuts to accompany your hot tea or coffee, as a recent study suggests that people who eat at least 20 grams of nuts a day have a lower risk of heart disease, cancer and other diseases.

According to the study results published in the journal BMC Medicine, higher nut intake is associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and and mortality from respiratory disease, diabetes, and infections. The study was carried out by researchers from Imperial College London and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The research team analyzed 29 published studies from around the world including more than 12,000 cases of coronary heart disease, 18,000 cases of cardiovascular disease and cancer and more than 85,000 deaths.

The analysis of all current studies on nut consumption and disease risk has revealed that 20 grams a day - equivalent to a handful - can cut people's risk of coronary heart disease by nearly 30 percent, their risk of cancer by 15 percent and their risk of premature death by 22 percent. "In nutritional studies, so far much of the research has been on the big killers such as heart disease, stroke and cancer, but now we're starting to see data for other diseases. We found a consistent reduction in risk across many different diseases, which is a strong indication that there is a real underlying relationship between nut consumption and different health outcomes. It's quite a substantial effect for such a small amount of food," said study co-author Dagfinn Aune from the School of Public Health at Imperial.

The study included all kinds of tree nuts, such as hazelnuts and walnuts and also peanuts, which are actually legumes. The results were generally similar whether total nut intake, tree nuts or peanuts were analyzed.