Pecans And Heart Health

Pecans (Carya illinoinensis) are good for you. They are also very good for the USA agricultural economy as they are now the most commercially important that remains native to that country. Pecans have grown in popularity because they not only have a sweet taste and lend themselves very well to pastries, confectionary and sauces for ice-creams they also have a developing following because of their nutritional health benefits.

One reason stands out in heart health. Apparently they contain plenty of ‘good’ fat because 60% of it is monounsaturated, 30% are polyunsaturated which leaves the remainder as saturated fats. Studies on pecan consumption showed about 15 years ago that these high levels of unsaturated fats might be beneficial in reducing the incidence of heart disease by positively influencing these biomarkers associated with it(Rajaram et al., 2000; 2001). Evidence has been developing apace with more clinical research.

One clinical study has shown that eating pecans helps double the level of gamma-tocopherol in the body generally whilst oxidation of LDL cholesterol drops by 33%. In this study, 16 male and female subjects ate a sequence of three diets built around whole pecans, pecans blended with water or a control meal base don the equivalent nutrient composition. The pecan meals contained 3 oz. of the nut. It appears those subjects eating the whole-pecan meal found their oxidised LDL cholesterol levels had reduced by 30% after two hours, 335 after three hours and 26% after eight hours which is a significant finding  (Hudthagosol et al., 2011).

One other great reason for their nutritional benefit – they contain plenty of polyphenols with lots of antioxidant power. Plenty of research has indicated that antioxidants have an ability to lower the incidence of chronic diseases. These cover neuro- and muscular degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. There are some types of cancer which can also be affected by the presence of these polyphenols (Mertens-Talcott and Percival, 2005; Tam et al., 2006). There is still though a need to develop a story specific to the consumption of pecans where these conditions are concerned but it remains of great interest to many.