Q: My doctor says my cholesterol is too high and I need to change my diet. Will I have to give up Georgia pecans?
A: No way! The fat in pecans is the heart-healthy kind that research shows actually lowers cholesterol in the blood. That’s because pecans are rich in oleic acid, the same type of fat found in olive oil and studies show that making pecans a regular part of your diet can reduce LDL’s (low-density lipoproteins) the “bad” cholesterol in your blood and raise HDL’s (high-density lipoproteins) the “good” cholesterol. One study from Loma Linda University found that when subjects ate heart-healthy diets in which pecans made up 20 percent of calories, bad cholesterol actually dropped twice as much as those on a traditional heart-healthy diet that contained no pecans. In addition, pecans are a good source of a compound called beta-sitosterol, a natural cholesterol-lowering plant compound. It works by blocking cholesterol absorption. So, pecans are an asset to your cholesterol-lowering diet, as long as you keep your average daily calorie intake within a range that’s healthy for you.
