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Pecan seeds are high in calorie, tasty, and help in losing weight. Research does show that pecan can indeed help one to lose weight and also has several health benefits.
Pecan is a delicious and a buttery nut that belongs to the Juglandaceae family. The Pecan tree is indeed native to Central as well as North America and is in fact cultivated all over the world as an important commercial crop.
There are over 1000 varieties of pecan. The nut has a brown kernel with a beige flesh, enclosed in a smooth, thin, brown colored shell.
Pecans Health Benefits:
Besides being a tasty as well as versatile nut, pecan also does offer a plethora of benefits.
1. Improves one’s Heart Health:
Pecans are no doubt referred to as “heart-healthy nuts”. It primarily does contain unsaturated fats that do tend to reduce low-density lipoprotein in the blood. The high levels of pyridoxine content in pecan do help to regenerate the cells in one’s diseased hearts. Regular consumption does prevent coronary artery diseases as well as strokes by encouraging a healthy lipid profile. The Vitamin E content in pecans does protect the blood lipids from being oxidized.
2. Helps in Losing Weight:
Pecan nuts are high in calorie and are good for losing weight. Several types of research have indeed confirmed that pecan nuts can help with weight loss. These nuts do increase the metabolic rate and satiety in the body thus preventing weight gain.
3. Antioxidants:
Pecan nuts contain a lot of natural antioxidant molecules. It does include antioxidants such as Vitamin E, beta-carotene, ellagic acid, lutein, and zeaxanthin. These compounds do help the body to scavenge the free radicals, thus protecting it from diseases as well as cancers.
4. Prevents Cancer:
The antiproliferative properties of the ellagic acid to inhibit the DNA binding of carcinogens, and thus protecting the body from cancer. The oleic acid present in pecan nuts does suppress the activity of a substance that tends to trigger breast cancer. The substance induces migration and proliferation in breast cancer cells, thus promoting an increase in cancer cell invasiveness.
5. Improves Prostate Health:
The enzymes found in pecan are indeed very effective for treating the symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia, a non-cancerous enlargement of one’s prostate gland. It also does contain gala-tocopherol, a type of Vitamin E that actually gets rid of the prostate cancer cells, without in any way harming the healthy cells.
6. Promotes Bone Health:
Calcium that is present in pecan nuts does promote the health of the bones as well as teeth. It also does require the growth as well as repair of the cells and tissues. The high concentration of phosphorus also does prevent muscle pain following a hard-core workout.
Selection and Storage:
Pecans are indeed available all the year round in grocery stores as well as supermarkets. It does come in shelled, unshelled, sweetened as well as salted forms. Unshelled pecans are rather healthier as compared to the processed ones.
Pecans are of course available in bulk bins as well as airtight containers. One has to avoid purchasing in bulk. One has to stick to those that do come packed in airtight containers with the expiry dates. It is advisable to purchase healthy-looking, off-white pecans. The nuts should indeed be free from cracks, molds as well as rancid
smell.
The high-fat content makes pecan nuts to be rancid quickly; proper storage is essential. The unshelled pecans can indeed be stored in a cool as well as dry place while shelled pecans should actually be stored in a refrigerator in order to prevent them from getting rancid. If properly stored, pecans can last for about 4 months.
Culinary Use:
Pecan nuts are of course subjected to dehydration, which becomes essential in order to remove the moisture and improve their quality.
• Pecan nuts are creamy and a sweet in taste. They have a buttery as well as rich flavor to savory dishes. Pecans are wonderful additions to rich as well as creamy desserts such as pie, fudge, muffins as well as caramel puddings.
• Pecans can be had straight from one’s bag by sprinkling some sugar as well as salt on it. One can roast these nuts for their aroma as well as crunchiness.
• Chopped pecans can be sprinkled over desserts, cakes, yogurt, sweets as well as sundaes. Ground pecan seeds are rather added to bread, cakes, cookies as well as other baked goods.
• Pecan can be used to make butter and one can use it as a spread on bread, toast as well as crackers.
• Pecan nuts are also processed into oil. The oil is used for cooking and salad dressings.
• One can taste the two most popular pecan dishes which are pecan praline and pecan pie. Pecan praline is indeed a favorite sweet dish among the people of South America and its taste is not only amazing but it is also easy to prepare.