Dietitians explain if it’s really a natural way to lower cholesterol.

• A study found that eating a certain nut may help lower cholesterol.
• Specifically, consuming pecans may boost heart health.
• Dietitians explain the findings.

Struggling to manage your cholesterol through diet alone? Your snack cabinet, or more specifically, what’s missing from your snack cabinet, could be the key. A study found that eating pecans may lower cholesterol.

According to the study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, replacing some snacks with pecans may improve lipid/lipoproteins, which research shows helps reduce cholesterol numbers.

Researchers spent 12 weeks working with 138 adults who met at least one criteria for metabolic syndrome, but were free from cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. The participants were equally split into a control group and a test group. The control group ate their regular diet, while the test group replaced their regular snacks for 2 ounces of raw, unsalted pecans.

Both groups completed daily questionnaires and had check-ins before coming back together for post-study workups that included blood pressure, blood testing, and a weigh-in, among other screenings.

In the end, the group that ate the pecans saw their total cholesterol drop 8.1 mg/dL, which included a decrease in triglycerides, non-high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. Not only that, but they saw the ratio of their total cholesterol to HDL (commonly known as “good cholesterol”) go down as well. That worked out to be a total reduction of around 3.75%. But, the group that consumed pecans saw an increase in their weight.

Ahead, dietians explain the findings and what to know before changing your diet.

How Could Pecans Help Cholesterol?

“Pecans help lower total cholesterol, LDL ‘bad’ cholesterol, triglycerides, and apolipoprotein B,” Jennifer Pallian, BS.c., R.D. says. Apolipoprotein B is the main protein in artery-clogging lipoproteins, she explains. Pallian says that pecans have an especially important role to play when it comes to lowering apolipoprotein B levels.

Apolipoprotein B levels are actually a stronger predictor of reduced cardiovascular risk (including strokes and heart attacks) than LDL cholesterol alone, she says. “Also, the drop in LDL cholesterol linked to pecan consumption could translate to a 6.5 to 11.4% lower risk of coronary artery disease,” she says.

Pecans may owe these cholesterol-lowering benefits to the fact that they contain a mix of healthy fats, dietary fiber, and polyphenols (a type of plant compound). That’s because dietary fibers may help decrease how much fat enters our bloodstream, naturally decreasing blood cholesterol numbers, according to Shelley Balls, M.D.A., R.D.N., L.D.N., a registered dietitian and nutritionist for Flawless Bloom.

“For example, eating pecans with sliced meats and cheeses can help decrease how much fat is absorbed into the bloodstream, and helps bind it so it is excreted through your stool,” she says. And, as for those healthy fats, Balls says those are part of what helps increase HDL while lowering LDL.

How Many Pecans Do You Need To Eat To See Heart-Health Benefits?

While Balls says study participants saw improvements with just two ounces—or roughly 30-35 pecan halves—over the course of 12 weeks, she believes you can see some similar results with a smaller amount of nuts. “As a dietitian I recommend eating at least one ounce pecans and a variety of other nuts and seeds at least three times per week,” she says, adding that even small changes in your eating pattern can make big changes over time.

That said, Pallian says there are some things to keep in mind before adding pecans to your routine for cholesterol management. While they may improve cholesterol and triglycerides, she says that their effect on vascular function—specifically, flow-mediated dilation (a key measure of blood vessel health)—is still unclear.

“Also, since pecans are calorie-dense, eating too many without adjusting your overall diet could lead to weight gain,” she warns. This was even evidenced during the study, when the group eating pecans gained more weight than the control group.

The Bottom Line

Eating pecans, at least during the process of this study, did appear to be an effective way to reduce overall cholesterol numbers in the test group thanks to the mix of healthy fats, dietary fiber, and polyphenols contained in each nut. Participants in the control group saw their total cholesterol numbers drop, leading to an 8.1 mg/dL reduction.

It’s important to note that pecans don’t replace cholesterol medication, and the participants in this study were not diagnosed with cardiovascular disease. Plus, according to Balls, there could be another reason why participants saw their cholesterol numbers go down.

“This study might have also shown benefits in cholesterol as they asked participants to replace their usual snacks with pecans, which they might have been consuming more processed ready-to-eat foods—like crackers, chips, pretzels, candy, etcetera—which contain more solid fats, sodium, and empty calories.” So more research is warranted.

Important Notice: This article was originally published at www.prevention.com by Lauren Wellbank, where all credits are due.