A daily handful of walnuts may lower fatal heart attack risk

A serving of fatty fish twice a week or gobbling down a handful of walnuts every day might save your life, a new study suggests.

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Good sources of omega 3 and unsaturated fats include fish and walnuts.

An international team of researchers found that people with higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their bodies have a lower risk of dying from a heart attack, according to the report published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

The new research measured the various types of omega-3 fatty acids in blood and tissue of 45,637 people from 16 countries.

During an average of 10 years follow-up there were 2,781 fatal and 7,157 non-fatal heart attacks. When the researchers analyzed people's omega-3 levels and heart health, they found moderate levels of the nutrient were associated with a 10 percent lower risk of death from heart attacks.

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The news is even better if you consume more foods with omega-3 fatty acids, said the study's lead author Liana Del Gobbo, a researcher at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

"If you went from eating almost no fish to eating a lot, it's more like a 23 or 24 percent lower risk of dying from a heart attack," Del Gobbo said.