Nutritional Facts of Pecans

Americans have always been in love with pecan nuts and pecan pies. It is the only native American tree nut, and is considered to be one of the healthiest nuts in the world. Researches conducted over the recent years affirm that pecans contain natural antioxidants, and are heart-healthy nuts. They are also known to have cholesterol lowering and weight control properties.

The Nutty Pecan Trivia: America is the largest producer of pecans in the world, and contributes 80% of the total crop of pecans in the world.

One of the most significant facts of these nuts is that, they are the best antioxidants. If you add a handful of pecan nuts to your daily diet, it will help to subdue the blood lipids that get oxidized unnecessarily. This helps in preventing coronary heart diseases. The nut contains vitamin E, which is a natural antioxidant that prevents blood lipids from getting oxidized. No wonder, these nuts are the topmost ranked nuts with highest antioxidant capacitance, among all the other nuts.

Another distinct factor is that they have cholesterol lowering properties. After an extensive research carried out by Dr. Ronald Eitenmiller from University of Georgia, it has been proved that the plant sterols in pecans have cholesterol-lowering characteristics. Heart patients now, have a reason to rejoice, at least when it comes to pecan nuts!

Research has also confirmed that pecan nuts help in weight loss. According to researches, consumption of these nuts helps in increasing the metabolic rate of the body and improves satiety.

Pecans are called 'heart-healthy' nuts. The reason behind this is, the unsaturated fat content in a pecan is supposed to be the heart-healthy fat. 60% of the fat content in it is mono unsaturated, and another 30% is polyunsaturated. This means that the saturated fat content in pecan nuts is very low, and the unsaturated fats are heart-healthy. Besides, pecans contain zero trans fats.

The Nutty Pecan Trivia: The zinc in pecans will add a 'zing' to your love life. Haven't you heard that zinc helps in maintaining testosterone to optimum levels in the human body.

Coming to the real nutrition of this dry fruit, let me tell you that pecan nuts contain 19+ vitamins and minerals. Vitamins from the B group, vitamin A, and E, calcium, potassium, folic acid, phosphorus, zinc, and magnesium are also present in pecans. If we look at the daily value of required fiber for our body, these nuts provide 10% of the total fiber.

They are a rich source of proteins, and contain less carbohydrates and zero cholesterol. They are best suited for sodium restricted diet for heart patients and those with high blood pressure, as they are sodium-free nuts.

The Nutty Pecan Trivia: If pecans could be used as bricks to build a building, it would take 11,624 nuts to build a skyscraper as tall as the Empire State Building!

• Pecans are one of the very few sodium-free and fiber-rich nuts in the world.
• They are a rich source of gamma tocopherol, which is a chemical compound derived from vitamin E. It supports heart health, prevents heart diseases, promotes respiratory health, helps in blood circulation, and is very good for the brain.

• They also contain some of the phytochemicals.
• 90% of the fat content in these nuts contains unsaturated fats.

The Nutty Pecan Trivia: Ever thought of swimming in pecans? Well, fill up an empty Olympic level swimming pool with 144 million pecan nuts, and your pecan pool is ready to take a dip!

The Nutty Pecan Trivia: If pecans had legs and could stand in a line, to reach the moon, the line would be massively long with 10 billion pecans standing one after the other!

Candied pecans are the best examples of how a low-calorie treat can be irresistibly delicious at the same time! They are a nutty delight that we all would love to hog on all-day-long. However, watch out for the calorie-count.

Well, a serving of an ounce of candied pecans contains 190 calories, 17 g of fat, out of which, 10 g are mono unsaturated fats and 4 g are polyunsaturated fats. These nuts are also cholesterol-free. The sodium content in this nutty delight is limited to 75 mg. In our daily diet (based on a 2000-calorie diet), we have been restricted to 2.37 g of sodium.

Thus, the sodium content in candied pecans is as low as 3%! And, if you feel like counting those carbs, they just amount to 30% of your daily carbohydrate needs, with a content as low as 10 g.

The Nutty Pecan Trivia: The pecan equation of relativity says that, 1 watermelon=5640 pecan halves!

Pecans continue to be America's favorite dry fruit, and after knowing about its nutrition, I am sure it will be a global favorite soon! So throw away that burger in the trash, and grab a handful of pecans instead!