The amount of nuts that can lower cholesterol and improve heart health

Eating a few pecans, which come from the Carya illinoinensis tree, also known as the pecan tree, significantly improved cholesterol levels and overall diet quality in adults at risk for cardiometabolic disease , according to a recent study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition . Eating 56 grams of pecan halves a day for 12 weeks reduced participants’ total cholesterol by just over 8 mg/dL and also lowered their LDL levels.

The clinical trial included 138 adults aged 25 to 70 who were obese or overweight and already had at least one risk factor for metabolic syndrome, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, or a high BMI . Researchers randomly assigned participants to two groups: one continued eating their usual snacks, and the other replaced those chips or crackers with 57 g of raw, unsalted pecans daily. The study lasted 12 weeks.

All subjects were instructed to abstain from non-prescription drugs and alcohol for 48 hours before the test. When comparing the final blood tests, the pecan group recorded a 7 mg/dL drop in LDL cholesterol (known as bad cholesterol) and a 16 mg/dL drop in triglycerides , while the control group showed little change. Furthermore, there were no significant changes in blood pressure or the ability of blood vessels to dilate, suggesting that the power of pecans acts directly on lipids and not so much on vascular elasticity.

“These results strengthen the evidence supporting the cardiovascular benefits of nuts and offer new insights into how adults can incorporate them into their diet,” said senior author Kristina Petersen, associate professor of nutritional sciences at Penn State.

That 3.6% average drop in total cholesterol in the Hart trial may sound modest, but let's not underestimate its impact : lowering LDL cholesterol by 5 mg/dL is, in practice, equivalent to reducing the risk of suffering a cardiovascular event by around 4% in the next five years.

Small but efficient quantities

Experts have discovered that replacing your usual snack with a handful of this popular nut can improve cardiovascular health thanks to its richness in antioxidants, monounsaturated fats, and fiber, elements that help fight heart disease . "They also suppress triglyceride spikes after meals, which is especially important because temporary increases in fat can contribute to heart disease over time," explained cardiologist Matthew Segar of the Texas Heart Institute (United States).

Nuts are not a luxury, but a pillar of a balanced diet, and their regular presence on the menu is linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. Among them, pecans stand out for their richness in polyphenols— especially flavan-3-ols —surpassing most of their dried "sisters" in antioxidant compounds (a handful also has 34 grams of magnesium). Now we have a new reason to add them to our regular diet.

Including pecans in your diet isn't just good for your heart: volunteers who included them in their meals improved the nutritional quality of their diet by 17%. These results support the idea that pecans are a perfect ally for giving snacks a healthy twist.