NEW ORLEANS — Eating nuts has been linked to a number of health benefits, such as a reduced risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Compared with people who had shorter legs, those with longer legs had a 42 percent higher risk of developing colorectal cancer, according to the new study presented here today (April 19) at the American Association for Cancer Research's annual meeting. Researchers have two hypotheses that may explain the association between height and cancer risk, Onyeaghala told Live Science. [6 Foods That Are Good For Your Brain] 
 
 To examine the relationship between eating nuts and colon cancer risk, the researchers looked at 923 patients who had been diagnosed with colon cancer and compared their diets with those of 1,846 people who did not have colon cancer. In addition, the researchers looked at several different types of colon cancer, based on the location in the colon where the cancer is found. Research presented at meetings should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. Follow Sara G. Miller on Twitter @SaraGMiller. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Originally published on Live Science.
– Higher cancer rates have been linked generally to taller people, but University of Minnesota researchers are reporting a startling find: Men with longer legs have a 42% higher risk of developing colorectal cancer than those with shorter legs, reports Live Science. More specifically, they found that the men with the longest legs (at an average length of 35.4 inches) had a 91% greater risk of colon cancer than men with the shortest legs (at an average length of 31.1 inches). But in women, any differences in risk between the tallest and shortest legs were so small as to be statistically insignificant. They also note that it is leg length in particular, not total body length, where the differences in men arise. The researchers offer up two theories as to why leg length matters. One is that taller people have longer colons and thus more real estate on which cancer can grow. The other, which these findings seem to support, is that the growth hormones that increase leg length may contribute to colon cancer risk. The research hasn't yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, notes Live Science, but it's not all grim news: Researchers in South Korea have observed that a diet rich in nuts appears to reduce colon cancer risks for both men and women, reports Live Science. And WebMD has a small but compelling study that a recently FDA-approved stool-based DNA test may help screen for colon cancer. (Now why are colon cancer rates are up among people younger than 50?)