Pecans Lower Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol in People with Normal Lipid Levels
Section snippets
Study Design
An 8week randomized, controlled study was conducted in adults with normal lipid levels. Subjects were randomly assigned to either a treatment group who consumed 68 g pecans (approximately cup of large halves) daily during the 8 weeks of the study or to a control group who avoided nut consumption. Because of the 8week treatment period, the design of a pecan treatment group vs control group was selected rather than a crossover design.
Subjects
To investigate the possible effects of ingestion of pecan nut
Subject Characteristics and Dietary Intakes
Nineteen subjects (9 in the control group and 10 in the pecan treatment group) completed the study. Four subjects did not complete the study because they were not able to conform to the study protocols; their data were not included in the statistical analyses. The control group consisted of 8 women and 1 man; mean age±standard deviation (SD) was 45± 10 years. The pecan treatment group consisted of 7 women and 3 men; mean age+SD was 37±12 years. Body weights for the subjects were standardized by
Discussion
This study compared the serum lipid levels and dietary intakes of subjects with normal lipid levels who consumed selfselected diets plus 68 g pecans per day for 8 weeks with subjects who consumed selfselected diets but avoided nuts. Previous studies (11), (22), (23), (24), (25) of the effects of almonds and walnuts on blood lipid levels used strict dietary regimens to control nutrient intake in addition to nut supplementation. In this study,subjects consumed selfselected diets except for
Applications/Conclusions
A growing body of scientific evidence suggests potential beneficial effects from the ingestion of tree nuts such as pecans, walnuts, and almonds. A possible mechanism for the action of pecans and other tree nuts is their high content of monounsaturated fat in the form of oleic acid. Although fiber and vitamin E intake were not consistently higher in the pecan treatment group in our study, other investigators have postulated that the presence of these nutrients in nuts might have a protective
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