No link between nut consumption and prostate cancer

Eating nuts may not be beneficial in terms of reducing the risk of total, advanced, nonadvanced, and fatal prostate cancer, according to the results of a meta-analysis.

Researchers searched the online databases of PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, in addition to Google Scholar, for observational studies in which the association between nut consumption and prostate cancer risk was examined.

A total of 11 articles met the eligibility criteria and were included in the current systematic review and meta-analysis. These studies contributed to a total sample size of 287,786 participants and 32,213 cases of prostate cancer.

Pooled data showed nonsignificant associations between nut consumption and prostate cancer risk. The corresponding relative risks associated with the highest vs the lowest intake of total nuts were 0.94 (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.85–1.04) for total prostate cancer (p=0.22), 1.10 (95 percent CI, 0.98–1.24) for advanced prostate cancer (p=0.12), 0.97 (95 percent CI, 0.85–1.11) for nonadvanced prostate cancer (p=0.69), and 0.97 (95 percent CI, 0.79–1.18) for fatal prostate cancer (p=0.73).

Likewise, there was no evidence of a linear or nonlinear association between total nut intake and prostate cancer risk in the dose-response analyses.

Data on other types of nuts, such as walnut, tree nuts, peanut, and peanut butter, were insufficient for performing a meta-analysis.