We’re always looking for healthy snacks. When people are trying to take care of their health, their diet can become boring. That can lead to lapses in good choices.
When looking for healthy snacks, we always look for interesting textures. When you have an array of sweet and savory foods in various textures, it becomes much easier to make healthy choices. You don’t feel limited.
We love nuts. They are a wonderful source of healthy fat, protein, fiber, minerals, vitamins, phytosterols and polyphenols. We have praised them for years as being a heart-healthy snack.
A 12-week study with 138 adults with at least one risk factor for heart disease found that pecans can aid heart health. Half the people in the study ate normally; the other half added two ounces of pecans to their day. The people in the pecan group made healthy changes in their overall diet and had lower heart health risks at the end of the study. Making one healthy choice often helps our brains change direction and get into a pattern of making other healthy choices. Plus, nuts are a satiating snack that keeps people fuller longer because of their fat, protein and fiber.
“Replacing typical snacks with pecans improved key risk factors for heart disease, including blood cholesterol levels and diet quality,” said lead author Kristina Petersen, an associate professor of Nutritional Sciences at Penn State. “These results add to the evidence supporting the cardiovascular benefits of nuts and offer new insights into how adults can incorporate nuts into their diet.”
The pecans did not improve blood vessel health. And people in the study who ate pecans daily gained 1.5 pounds on average. They weren’t asked to trade regular snacks for nuts, just to add two ounces of pecans. Two ounces of pecans have almost 400 calories. While the quality of their diet improved by an average of 17 percent, weight gain was virtually inevitable if their calories increased.
The study also reconfirmed a study from three years ago that found that daily pecans lower total cholesterol by almost five percent and lower bad cholesterol by 6.4 to 9.5 percent. Pecans are understudied compared to almonds, pistachios and walnuts and needs more research.
