2023-08-14 12:18:02
The fight once morest obesity and diabetes came to promulgate some general recommendations such as avoiding diets and foods high in fat. However, there is an exception and it is a nut that precisely demonstrated its usefulness for weight loss and other nutritional qualities: the pecan nut.
A scientific study supports its health benefits by giving it the nickname superfood following researchers at the University of Texas (United States) showed that pecans can help prevent obesity and reduce inflammation.
Also read The superfood chosen by celebrities that can improve sexual life
In the research, pecans and high-fat diets were applied to mouse models and found that walnuts increased energy expenditure and reduced inflammation and dysbiosis (an imbalance in the microbiota that increases the risk of chronic disease).
Pecans put our fats to work
The study confirmed that pecans modulate the lipolysis of adipose tissue, that is, they contribute to the process by which the lipids present in our body are transformed to produce fatty acids and glycerol to try to cover the energy needed by our body, a process that occurs, for example, when we practice sports. In addition, research suggests that they also support mitochondrial oxidative metabolism in the liver and skeletal muscle.
“The numbers of obesity and diabetes are increasing in modern society around the world, and the trend in the consumption of high-fat diets is one of the main reasons, in addition to lifestyle and genetic predisposition,” said Professor of horticulture and food science in the Department of Horticultural Sciences of the Texas College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Luis Cisneros-Zevallos.
Pecans can be eaten alone or in some meals. (Photo: Adobe Stock)
Research also indicated that the anti-inflammatory properties of pecans reduce low-grade inflammation that leads to chronic inflammation and the development of a number of prevalent diseases. This also shows that these types of nuts maintain body weight and prevent diabetes despite consuming a high-fat diet.
The opinion of the specialists
“People are looking for healthier options, and now we have shown that pecans are a healthy tool that consumers have in their hands,” concludes Cisneros-Zevallos.
In this sense, the head of the Department of Horticultural Sciences at Texas A&M University, Amit Dhingra, highlighted that the work of Cisneros-Zevallos provides scientific evidence that supports the traditional knowledge in America that pecans are highly nutritious.
“Thanks to the work of Cisneros-Zevallos, we now know what possible mechanisms underlie this nutritional benefit. Our department focuses on the areas of sustainability, well-being and food security, and this research illustrates the relevance of horticultural crops to human health,” Dhingra said.
Pecans and burgers?
The one from Texas is not the only study published these days on the pecan nut, but there is a Spanish one, signed by the Center for Scientific and Technological Research of Extremadura, which set out to analyze lamb burgers from cuts of meat of lower commercial value at different amounts of freeze-dried pecans (5%, 10% and 15%) were added to study the influence of the addition of pecans on the quality of the hamburger.
108 hamburgers were evaluated by physicochemical, sensory and microbiological analyses, and surprisingly, the addition of pecans mainly affected the fatty acid profile of the meat. The saturated fatty acid content decreased and the pecan nuts also proved to be able to increase the antioxidant capacity of the product, significantly reducing the oxidation values of lipids and proteins.
In conclusion, the study found that the use of pecans improves the nutritional content of burgers without negatively affecting technological or sensory properties.
1692019463
#superfood #antiinflammatory #good #weight #loss
