The Daily News – July 17, 2025

Today in the news, a new study spotlights a tasty hack to lower your cholesterol, one that involves eating one particularly delicious nut variety. We’re looking at a recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that found swapping your usual snacks for pecans may help lower your cholesterol levels. Pecans have a naturally buttery, slightly sweet flavor with a rich, satisfying crunch that makes them perfect for snacking. Researchers followed 138 adults for 12 weeks. Everyone had at least one sign of metabolic syndrome, such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high levels of triglycerides, which is the type of fat in the blood, low HDL, which is the good cholesterol or excess belly fat. None of them had heart disease or diabetes yet. So this was a chance to see how diet changes could help prevent future issues. Half the group kept their regular diets, the other half swapped their usual snacks for about 30 pecan halves a day, roughly two ounces. The pecan group saw real changes. Their total cholesterol dropped by eight points. Bad cholesterol, triglycerides, and other harmful fats also came down. The balance between their good and bad cholesterol improved by nearly 4%. So why pecans? Well, they’re packed with healthy fats, fibre, and polyphenols, natural plant compounds that support heart health. Plus they lower a specific protein linked to artery clogging particles, which may be even more important than LDL levels alone. And here’s something interesting. When you eat pecans with high fat foods like meats or cheese, they might help your body absorb less fat as dietician, Shelly Balls puts it. Pecans help decrease how much fat is absorbed into the bloodstream and help bind it so it is excreted through your stool. Study participants ate two ounces a day, but even one ounce a few times a week could offer benefits according to experts. A quick heads up, though the pecan group did gain a bit of weight. Pecans are healthy, but they’re calorie dense. So portion control matters. Swapping processed snacks for pecans could help improve your cholesterol thanks to their unique mix of healthy fats, fibre, and plant nutrients. So would you make the switch? Let us know in the comments below. And if you found this information helpful, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and hit that notification bell. As always, thank you so much for joining us on the Daily News.