Pecans are nutrient dense. They are a good source of protein as well as minerals such as magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, and vitamins A, E and folate. Pecans also contain calcium, iron, manganese, selenium and vitamin C.

Pecan kernels contain 65 to 70 percent oil. Approximately 73 percent of fresh pecan oil consist of monounsaturated (oleic) and 17 percent polyunsaturated (linoleic) fatty acids. Oleic is the same fatty acid found in olives. Olive oil has been demonstrated to be effective in reducing the risk of coronary heart disease.

Pecans are an excellent source of monounsaturated fatty acid - similar to olive oil.

Dr. Scott Grundy at the Southwest Medical Center in Dallas has shown that polyunsaturated fat diets lowered both plasma LDL and HDL cholesterol. However, the monounsaturated fat diet only lowered plasma "BAD" LDL and left "Good" HDL intact resulting in a higher HDL/LDL ratio that reduces the risk of coronary heart disease.

In 1997, researchers at New Mexico State University found that pecan consumption significantly lowered total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol in both high and low cholesterol subjects. Pecan consumption lowered "BAD" LDL cholesterol by 10 percent in both high and low subjects at 4 weeks into the study. Pecan consumption had no effect on the "GOOD" HDL cholesterol levels. The result was a higher HDL/LDL ration that reduces the risk of coronary heart disease.

Pecans are also a great source of antioxidants - similar to red wine.

The "Harvard Heart Letter" reported that in a long-term study of 26,000 Seventh Day Adventists, the people who consumed tree nuts (pecans, almonds, walnuts, etc) frequently (at least 5 times a week) had roughly half the risk of a heart attack or a coronary death as those who rarely ate them. People who ate a portion of nuts even once a week had about 25 percent lower risk of heart disease than those who didn't.

Pecans contain many phytochemicals, which make them protective against cancers of the colon, stomach and rectum, according to Frank Sacks, associate professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School.

The Iowa Women's Health Study revealed that women were 60 percent less likely to have heart trouble if they ate nuts more than twice a week.