Tuesday, October 07, 2008

The Health Benefit of Pecans

All nuts have their own health benefits. So do pecans. The pecan nut is not only rich and tasty but the package of health benefits offered by these nuts is pretty good too. It is recommended that you eat pecan nuts to make sure that your diet is in line with the recommendations made by various departments for healthy eating. The great part about pecans is that they are easily available and you don’t have to search high and low for them.
Lowering Blood Pressure
No nuts can help cure blood pressure. However, most nuts including pecans form an integral component of the ‘Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension’ eating plan that has been developed by the National Institutes of Health. It can lower your blood pressure and it will definitely suffuse your dietary plan with the nutrients that are essential requirements for controlling hypertension. What’s more you really don’t have to make any effort to eat pecans as they are delicious.


Breast Cancer Prevention
Before we tell you about why pecans help in breast cancer prevention we must tell you that this area of study is in its early stages but it cannot be denied that the pecan nut has essential elements that will help in preventing breast cancer. Pecans are a rich source of oleic acids and laboratory tests that have been conducted suggest that the oleic acid can suppress the activities of those gene cells that might trigger incidences of breast cancer.
A Healthy Heart
It is no secret that a bad heart is a result of excessive amounts of cholesterol in the world. Pecans sort this problem out for you as they contain a compound that has the ability to lower cholesterol levels and beta-sitosterol. The pecan nut can be included in your daily health diet and it would contribute heavily to the lowering of your cholesterol levels, hence if you need a healthy heart, eat pecans.


Treating Your Prostate
Researchers at Purdue University have come up with a great pecan health advantage. The pecan nut has gamma-tocopherol, which is a type of Vitamin E and it is this vitamin that helps kill the cancerous prostate cells and does not affect the health cells. However, the laboratory studies are continuing and the laboratory result would now be confirmed only after test of this Vitamin E element on animals. However, it is proven that the natural compounds found in pecans that lower cholesterol levels also treat symptoms of benign prostate hyperplasia which is a condition in which the prostate gland in men becomes enlarged. This is a non-cancerous condition.
At the end of the day, many dieticians and health practitioners advise people to at pecans as they are a great substitute for meat products. They have high levels of proteins and also contain fats that are cholesterol free. It is generally considered that one ounce of meat is equal to 10 pecan halves. So, the next time that you think you want to eat meat; and you have health problems, try to go for a mouthful of pecans.

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