HWN Suggests

Pecans: A Healthful New Mexico-grown Food

Recently, pecans have received a lot of very positive attention because of a significant shift in how scientists now think about fats in the diet. We now know that the fat in nuts and other foods has many positive health benefits. It wasn’t too long ago that people were discouraged from eating nuts due to their high fat content. Research, some of which was conducted at New Mexico State University, has shown that regular pecan nut consumption may in fact have a number of important health benefits, and recent studies have shown that the pruning and fertilizer practices used by New Mexico farmers may actually enhance the health-promoting components of pecan kernels even more!1

read full article

Featured

 Beyond almond and oat: How pecan milk is shaking up the plant-based market

With PKN, America's only indigenous commercial tree nut could shake up the non-dairy industry. Enter Laura Shenkar, founder and CEO of PKN, the world’s first pecan milk brand. Shenkar has positioned pecans, America’s only indigenous commercial tree nut, as a sustainable and nutrient-packed alternative in the crowded non-dairy aisle.

Articles of Interest

Are Pecans Good for You? Here’s What Nutritionists Say

The rich and buttery goodness of pecans makes for an indulgent ingredient in sweet treats, or as a garnish. At least that’s where pecans traditionally land—in pecan pie and on sticky buns. But maybe that’s why we’ve overlooked pecans as a healthy nut, thinking they should be eaten sparingly or only as a special treat. It’s time to give pecans a second look because they actually contain many good things that are healthy for us.

Cardiovascular health: An important reason to eat pecans

A newly published study in The Journal of Nutrition suggests that pecan consumption improves fasting and post-meal blood lipids and post-meal glucose levels in adults at risk for cardiovascular disease.

Fall for Pecans

Tender, meaty and honey-sweet, fresh pecans have about as much in common with the shriveled bagged things you find on supermarket shelves as sirloin does with jerky.

Here's Why to Make Pecans Your New, Nutrient-Dense Nut of Choice

They're a heart-healthy option (no matter how you pronounce 'pecan').

Meet the maker: the third-generation pecan producer in Georgia

Although better known for its peanuts, Georgia is the US’s pecan powerhouse, producing a third of the American yield: about 40 million kilos. When Hurricane Michael swept through the state in 2018, it wiped out many smaller producers and destroyed 4,200 trees at Sunnyland, which sits just outside the city of Albany. “It hit us hard, because a pecan tree can take a decade to grow back,” says Alex, “but we have a lot of longevity.”

Pecans are a good snack, ingredient — but beware of high calorie count and allergy risk

Perhaps no other nut has transformed from being a standalone snack to an ingredient included in so many foods as successfully as pecans.

Replacing other snacks with pecans may improve cholesterol, diet quality

Switching daily snack foods to pecans improved cholesterol levels and enhanced overall diet quality, according to a new study by researchers in the Penn State Department of Nutritional Sciences.

Scientists Just Discovered a Heart-Healthy Benefit of Pecans

Though walnuts are probably the most studied nut—so we know more about them—pecans are climbing the ranks as more research is done on them. Case in point: We rated pecans as the No. 1 nut to eat for better blood sugar.

The Pecan: A Culinary History

It wasn‘t just vegetarians and land speculators who appreciated the nutritious pecan. The medical community also promoted pecans for health reasons. A 1902 article in Good Health magazine recommended a handful of pecans after each meal to end constipation.

Resources

5 Fantastic Health Benefits of Pecans

Pecans, the only tree nut native to North America, have a long history. They were prized by many Native American tribes long before European colonists ever set foot on the continent due to the ease of getting into the nut and their pleasant flavor. Later, in the last decades of the 1700s, early United States presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, along with many other pioneers, planted pecan trees throughout the country. Commercial production of the pecan in the United States began in earnest after an enslaved individual by the name of Antoine perfected the grafting technique for these trees in 1846 or 1847.

9 Health Benefits of Pecans That'll Make You Go Nuts

For starters, they go way beyond dessert. Little known fact about this tiny tree nut: The United States grows and supplies up to 80% of the world's pecans (that may explain why we go right for pecan pie at Thanksgiving!). But even lesser known pecan trivia: They're delicious, nutrient-packed powerhouses that make for an ideal snack, condiment, or ingredient in your favorite recipes.