According to Frank B. Hu, MD, PhD and Meir Stampfer, MC,DPhl in the Department of Nutrition Harvard School of Public Health in Boson, "Traditionally nuts have been perceived as an unhealthy food because of their high fat content. However, recent accumulative evidence suggests that frequent consumption of nuts may be protective against coronary heart disease (CHD). So far, five large prospective cohort studies (The Adventist Health Study, the Iowa Women Health Study, the Nurses' Health Study, the Physicians' Health Study, and the CARE Study) have examined the relationship between nut consumption and the risk of CHD and all have found an inverse association.