Need some healthy snack ideas? Help yourself to a handful of nuts. In the largest study of its kind, a diet rich in nuts was associated with a host of health benefits including reduced death rates, say scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and the Harvard School of Public Health.

And the variety of nuts you eat doesn't seem to make a difference -- the benefits appeared to be similar whether it's peanuts or "tree nuts" such as walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews, macadamias and pistachios.

Here are their findings on the benefits of nuts -- in a nutshell:

1

People who ate a daily handful of nuts were 20 percent less likely to die from any cause over a 30-year period, compared to those who didn't consume nuts.

2

People who ate a lot of nuts were found to be less likely to put on weight than those who didn't eat nuts.

3

People who reported eating nuts at least five times per week were 29 percent less likely to die of heart disease, than those who avoided nuts.

4

Regular nut consumption was linked to a 11 percent reduction in the risk of dying from cancer.

5

People who consumed nuts at least five times a week were also 24 percent less likely to die of respiratory conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.