The pecan, a nut native to the Americas, appears to be another worthwhile addition for the diabetic food list. Pecans provide vitamins, minerals and fiber and are good sources of the healthful omega fatty acids and the preferred types of fat, the unsaturated fats.
Fats, pecans and the diabetic food list
The body needs fat to maintain good health, performing many roles, from building cell membranes, to protecting vital organs — and a large portion of brain tissue is fat. But some forms of fat are more beneficial than others for the human body, the preferred dietary sources being the unsaturated fats obtained from fish and from plants, including seeds and nuts.
Like fish and other nuts, pecans provide mostly the better type of fat. The less preferred fats are the saturated fats obtained primarily from animal sources — such as beef and other meats and butter and dairy products. The saturated fats can be converted by the liver into cholesterol which is also essential to the body but elevated cholesterol levels in the blood are thought to increase the risk of developing heart disease. Diabetes is also a major risk factor for developing heart disease and heart disease is the leading cause of death among people who have diabetes, so it would be wise to avoid consuming too much saturated fat. The good fat of pecans would seem to warrant their inclusion in the diabetic food list.
From one source on the nutritional benefits of pecans, I read that an ounce of pecans, which is about 20 halves, the size they are usually available, provides about 20 grams of total fat of which a little less that 10% is saturated. That one ounce also provides 2.7 grams of fiber and 20 or more vitamins and minerals, including A, E, B1 (thiamine), folic acid, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium and zinc. And no sodium or cholesterol and little carbohydrate.
For more information on pecans than you would probably ever want to know, check out the National Pecan Sellers website here.
About vitamin E and heart disease
According to a research study carried out at Loma Linda University in California, published in the September 2001 issue of the Journal of Nutrition, nuts are rich in the gamma tocopherol form of vitamin E, an antioxidant that plays a positive role in reducing inflammation in arteries.
Inflammation is garnering an increased level of interest in the medical research community in recent years. Studies have been conducted during the past few years by cardiologist Dr. Paul Ridker, of Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital that appear to reveal the important role of inflammation in triggering heart attacks.
This could account for the fact that many people have heart attacks even though they do not have abnormal cholesterol levels, once thought to be a major cause of heart disease.
Apparently, inflammation causes a sequence of events in the coronary artery such as, plaque rupture, blood clot formation and embolization in the blood vessels within the heart – all liable to lead to a heart attack.
Conclusion: Pecans, as well as other nut species, would seem to be a logical addition to the diabetic menu for those people who are not allergic to nuts. I know that some people are allergic to nuts, two of my own children are.
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