Tag Archive for: nuts

Nut-rition Research

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The pecan study I reviewed on Tuesday may have left you with more questions than answers. While I think the study design and the effort that went into the organization and administration of the study were good, the applicability of the results to our lives is limited. That’s the case with most nutrition studies — there are some good indicators and more questions. Here are the ones that came to mind.

The Possibilities

One key finding was that volunteers will comply with a single lifestyle change for four weeks without many issues. While getting up to 20% calories from a single source, in this case pecans, that was less than two ounces of pecans per day for about 400 calories. Whether volunteers are willing to continue that type of lifestyle change indefinitely is unknown. That limits the claims that can be made about pecans as a way of reducing LDL-cholesterol.

Which factor helped lower the LDL-cholesterol? The fiber in the pecans? The phytonutrients? The healthier fats in the pecans because most calories come from fat? The reduction in saturated fat in the diet? The reduction in protein intake? It’s hard to know because those factors could not be teased out.

One of the things that is never done but could be helpful is to see scattergrams of the lipid data. Did every subject trend in the same direction, that is, a lower total and LDL-cholesterol? The standard error of the measurement for cholesterol is +/- 6%; 12 mg/dl is within that measurement error.

One generality that is positive is that adding a plant-based, renewable source of quality fat, fiber, and phytonutrients may have reduced total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol. Saturated fat intake stayed the same, but monounsaturated and polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acids increased. It may be that the good fats from the pecans outweighed the not-as-good animal fat.

The Bottom Line

Nutrition research is usually cloudy; no matter what we can control, there are always going to be more factors that we cannot, and that’s okay as long as we understand that before we begin. So many products in the marketplace would have you believe there are magic foods or nutrients, but if so, we haven’t found them yet. Eating better is the only rule we really need to follow, and our body will figure it all out for us. As for me, a nice slice of pecan pie sounds good right about now.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: J Nutr. 2026. doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2026.101396

Nuts!

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Here’s a question for you: can you eat more fat, but less protein and carbohydrates, and still lower your bad cholesterol levels? You may be thinking that this has to be about the carnivore diet, but you would be wrong. It’s about nuts, specifically, pecans.

Researchers recruited overweight subjects with cholesterol levels that were higher than desirable. Then they asked the subjects to eat varying amounts of pecans, between 6%, 13%, and 20% of their daily caloric intake, with a control group that avoided nuts. After four weeks, both the 13% and 20% nut intake groups had a 12 mg/dl decrease in LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) and a slight rise in HDL cholesterol (the good kind). The data showed that fat and fiber intake increased while carbs and protein decreased.

This is a small study with about 100 subjects divided into the various control and pecan intake groups. The interpretation of the results could go in many different directions — and that’s exactly what I’ll do in Saturday’s Memo. But I do see a pecan pie in my future.

Reminder that the Insider Conference Call is tomorrow night with the Guest Pass available. The topics are the parathyroid gland and lung cancer screening. I’ll also answer your questions. Join us tomorrow night at 9 p.m.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

P.S. Get access to the next Insider Conference Call for only $9.95 for a wealth of knowledge. So join me on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, at 9 p.m. Eastern Time to learn live and in person; you’ll also get an opportunity to listen during the following week.

Reference: J Nutr. 2026. doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2026.101396

Unusual Question: Resistant Starch and Food Prep

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Resistant starch (RS) has qualities that are somewhat unique. As it’s being touted today, RS will help reduce the glycemic response to some carbohydrate-based foods. The issue is that when and how an RS containing food is prepared and consumed seems to be important. Let’s take a look.

Food Preparation Methods

The most natural forms of resistant starch to eat, regardless of preparation, are beans, seeds, nuts, and legumes. The food preparation doesn’t seem to impact the RS in any way, so these are the best ways to get RS.

Eating bananas and plantains when they’re green provides a high amount of RS. The more they’re allowed to ripen, the higher the sugar content and the less RS.

Raw potatoes also seem to have a high amount of RS. Because most people don’t eat raw potatoes, the type of preparation impacts RS levels. The longer the potatoes are cooked, the more the starch is changed into sugars or starches that don’t contain as much RS. In a review study of potatoes, the cooking method that contains the most RS was baked, followed by deep-fried, and finally boiled. The problem with deep-fried is the additional fat.

Does Cooling Increase RS?

We rarely hear about nutrients being increased by food prep, but RS may be the exception. A lot of the recent focus on RS surrounds the possibility of increasing RS by cooking and then cooling the foods before eating. The RS that degenerates during cooking is partially restored in cooling, particularly in rice and pasta.

However, in a study that examined the difference between rice that was eaten immediately, kept at room temperature and eaten eight hours later, and cooled for 24 hours and then eaten, the amount of fiber increased by 0.64 grams, 1.3 grams, and 1.65 grams per 100 grams serving. Stated slightly differently, in a half-cup portion, there was an increase of one gram of fiber per serving. While it’s true, it’s not meaningful in the real world and probably not worth the additional effort.

RS and Type 2 Diabetes

Another benefit of RS is to reduce the amount of sugar that enters the blood stream. In the rice study, the cooked and cooled rice was fed to 15 healthy volunteers. Their glycemic response was reduced. While I think that’s great, there’s no indication that this will happen in T2D. On top of that, think about the additional steps required to achieve that. I think there’s a better way.

The Bottom Line

Resistant starch is legit; it acts as a prebiotic and reduces the glycemic response, but I don’t think we need to go out of our way to get more of it. Increasing our intake of beans, seeds, legumes, and nuts will increase our RS the most without jumping through hoops. If you like green bananas, eat them. Cook your pasta al dente and that maintains some of the RS in pasta. If you like to cook extra rice and pasta to use in later meals, now you know there’s a nutritional benefit. You don’t need to do anything else but eat the foods that naturally contain RS. Simply put, just eat better.

Next week is all your questions, so send them in if you haven’t already.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:
1. Nutrients. 2018 Nov 14;10(11). pii: E1764. doi: 10.3390/nu10111764.
2. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr 2015;24(4):620-625.

Vitamin E: Foods and Supplements

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Finishing up our look at vitamin E, the logical question is how much vitamin E do we need and where should we get it from? Let’s get right to it.

The RDA for vitamin E, in natural form as d-alpha tocopherol, is 15 mg per day in people 14 and over and 19 mg if a women is breast feeding. That corresponds to 22.4 IU and 26.8 IU. That would be the minimum intake per day from food or supplements. Why two units of measurement? Vitamin E is reported in mg in foods and IUs in . . .

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