Pecans Nutrition Facts

Delicious, buttery yet rich-flavored, Pecans are one of the popular edible tree nuts known to American aborigines since centuries ago. The nuts are enriched with many health-benefiting nutrients, minerals,  vitamins that are essential for optimum health. Pecan is a very large sized; deciduous tree belongs to the member of hickory family, Juglandaceae. The tree is native to central and southern parts of the United States of America. Today, however, it is being cultivated in many regions of the world as an important commercial tree nuts crop. Scientific name: Carya illinoinensis.Pecans are loaded with a lot of nutritious goodness. This is something that has remained non-debatable ever since the nut was discovered to be edible. New research about this really delicious tree nut has shown that they are rich in chemicals called antioxidants that in such a way, a daily serving of pecans is encouraged, as they help ward off a lot of disease. The good thing about eating pecans is that they can also help prevent heart disease,lower the cholesterol level, and can even prevent the dreaded life threatening cancer. Pecans are loaded with phytochemicals - a group of micronutrients that are found in plants - that includes plant sterols, flavonoids, and sulfur compounds.

Health benefits of Pecans:

• Pecan nuts are rich source of energy, provide 690 calories/100 g and contain health benefiting nutrients, minerals, antioxidants and vitamins that are essential for wellness.

• The nuts are rich in monounsaturated fatty acids like oleic acid and an excellent source of phenolic antioxidants. Regular addition of pecan nuts in the diet helps to decrease total as well as LDL or “bad cholesterol” and increases HDL or “good cholesterol” levels in the blood. Research studies suggest that Mediterranean diet, which is rich in dietary-fiber, mono-unsaturated fatty acids, and antioxidants would  help to prevent coronary artery disease and strokes by favoring healthy blood lipid profile.
• Pecan nuts are rich source of many phyto-chemical substances that may contribute to their overall antioxidant activity, including polyphenolic antioxidant ellagic acid, vitamin E, beta-carotene, lutein and zea-xanthin. Research studies have been suggestive of that these compounds help the body remove toxic oxygen-free radicals and thus, protect the body from diseases, cancers, as well as infections.Anti-proliferative properties of ellagic acid are because of its ability to inhibit DNA binding of certain carcinogens such as nitrosamines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; thus protecting the human body from cancers.
• Pecans are an excellent source of vitamin-E, especially rich in gamma-tocopherol; provide about 25 g per100 g.  Vitamin E is a powerful lipid soluble antioxidant, required for maintaining the integrity of cell membrane of mucus membranes and skin by protecting it from harmful oxygen-free radicals.
• The nuts are very rich sources of several important B-complex groups of vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B-6, and folates. Together, these vitamins work as co-factors for the enzyme metabolism inside the human body.
• The nuts are also rich source of minerals like manganese, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, and selenium.