Pecans: Top 3 Reasons to Eat More

By : Jodie Shield | 0 Comments | On : April 10, 2013 | Category : Adults

Get cracking and enjoy pecans!

By Jodie Shield, RD

Calling all health nuts.  Did you know that eating a handful of pecans each day is good for your heart, mind, and may help you lose weight?  It’s true. While most nuts are healthy, there seems to be something special about pecans.  For starters, pecans rank highest among all nuts in their antioxidant capacity – their ability to prevent disease and promote health.  Plus, the fat in pecans is 90 percent heart healthy. Nearly 60 percent of the fat is monounsaturated, another 30 percent is polyunsaturated leaving little room for unhealthy saturated fat.  Plus pecans contain no cholesterol or  trans fat and are naturally sodium-free.  Since April is National Pecan Month, here’s an update on pecans and the top three reasons why you may want to eat them every day.

#1 – Pecans Are Good for Your Heart. For the past decade, researchers have know that antioxidant-rich pecans play a role in lowering cholesterol.  A recent study (see the video below) found that eating pecans doubled the amount of healthy antioxidants in the body and reduced “bad” cholesterol (LDL) by as much as 33 percent.  While the study was small – 16 men and women between the ages of 23 and 44 – it’s good news for pecan lovers. The researchers only added 3 ounces of pecans which is not an unrealistic amount. To put this in perspective: a handful of nuts is about one ounce or approximatley 20 halves.

#2 – Pecans May Protect Your Mind.  Eating about a handful of pecans each day may play a role in protecting the nervous system from disease such as Alzheimers’s, Parkinson’s and Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS ), also know as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Researchers at the Center for Cellular Neurobiology at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, found that a pecan-rich diet helped delay the progression of age-related motor neuron degeneration. Although the study was conducted on mice, it looks promising for humans.

#3 – Pecans Can Help With Weight Control.  Several studies have found that eating nuts, such as pecans, seems to play a role in weight control. Nut consumption increases the body’s abilty to burn calories by boosting the metabolic rate.  In addition, the high protein, healthy-fat, and low carbohydrate content of nuts makes them a more satisfying food which prevents overeating.  Keep in mind, nuts are not calorie free.  There are about 196 calories in an ounce of pecans along with 3 grams of dietary fiber and  19 vitamins and minerals including vitamin A, Vitamin E, calcium, potassium and zinc.

In my next blog, I am going to share some quick and tasty ways you can add pecans to your daily meals and one of my favorite pecan recipes.  In the mean time, what’s your favorite nut?