Pecans For Good Health

Like most people, I love to eat and yet most foods I crave are bad for my health. But Dave, here's one thing we can keep making and eating every year: our candied pecans. Yeah, so the story is Norbert and I make them for our friends every holiday, but bubba, those are candied. True (chuckle), the study says nothing about those, but man. it's great for pecan lovers.

A new study shows eating pecans can lower cholesterol since it's a great source of fiber and healthy fatty acids. In the study, fifty people between the ages of thirty and seventy-five who were at risk for cardiovascular disease were divided into three groups. For eight weeks, one group ate their normal diet, another added pecans to their diet, and the last group ate about three ounces of pecans which replaced about five hundred calories of their normal diet.

At the end of the study, each group ate a high fat meal and a blood sample was taken to measure changes in the lipids and glucose in their blood. In both pecan groups, the lipid levels improved. People who added pecans saw their triglycerides drop while those who substituted pecans had lower blood sugar. Incredibly, some people's cholesterol levels dropped down to normal.

Overall, among the pecan groups, cholesterol was reduced five percent and the low density lipoprotein or LDL, otherwise known as the bad cholesterol was down six to nine percent. No we're not saying pecans are the solution to good heart health, but it's a reminder that our food choices matter.