People with diabetes who regularly eat nuts may be less likely to develop heart disease than their counterparts who rarely, if ever, consume nuts, a US study suggests.

Those with type 2 diabetes who eat at least five 28g servings of nuts a week are 17% less likely to develop heart disease than people with diabetes who have no more than one serving of nuts weekly, the study shows.

However, even just one serving of nuts may still be good for the heart, say the authors from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.

For people with diabetes, adding just one extra serving of nuts a week was associated with a 3% lower risk of developing cardiac conditions and 6% lower risk of dying from heart problems.