Imagine a snack that satisfies your cravings while shielding your mind. Native to the southern United States and northern Mexico, pecans have been a staple for thousands of years. Indigenous people relied on pecans for nutrition, and they’ve become integral to many diets and customs. Most people eat pecans simply because they taste good, but emerging science reveals a better reason to pick up a bag. These versatile nuts could actively protect your mind.
A new clinical trial being conducted by researchers at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) will examine whether pecans affect older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
“Food is medicine,” Leslie Shen, Ph.D., associate dean for research and professor of pathology at the TTUHSC School of Medicine, said. “The pecan is really rich in antioxidants, polyphenols and fiber. In this study, we are looking at how daily consumption of pecans can affect or improve brain health.”
People with MCI have more memory or thinking problems than others of their age. Symptoms are not as severe as those of Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. People with MCI can usually take care of themselves and carry out normal daily activities.
“The concern is that some of those patients may develop more severe cognitive decline over time,” Volker Neugebauer, M.D., Ph.D., TTUHSC faculty contributor, said. “It has also been reported that you can revert to normal functions. That’s what we’re trying to do with the pecan study: see if we can either delay or potentially mitigate and maybe even revert those mild cognitive symptoms.”
The trial, “Effects of Pecans on Brain Health in Older Americans with Mild Cognitive Impairment: Gut-brain Axis,” will enlist 60 people, ages 50 and older, with MCI.
For three months, study participants will be randomly assigned snacks, either pecans or a calorie-matched alternative.
“We believe that having antioxidants in your daily intake can really mitigate the oxidative stress or inflammation that causes brain aging,” Shen said. “That also is the cause of mild cognitive impairment.”
Neugebauer explained that neuroinflammation involves the abnormal activation of brain cells, which can impair neural function. Neuroinflammation is also linked to oxidative stress. One can trigger the other, and they can make each other worse.
“Antioxidants can help counteract excessive oxidative stress,” Neugebauer said. “Oxidative stress can damage nerve cells and other cells in the body, and the antioxidant properties of pecans could help mitigate that damage.”
Researchers will also evaluate if pecans influence gut health.
“This is an exciting new field called the brain-gut axis,” Shen said. “Research suggests that the bacteria living in our gut may affect brain health. By serving as a prebiotic food, pecans may help nourish beneficial gut bacteria, supporting gut health, strengthening immunity and potentially reducing inflammation in the brain.”
Jonathan Singer, Ph.D., director of the TTUHSC Garrison Institute on Aging Memory Clinic, said it’s important we understand what’s in our food and how foods can have a positive influence on health.
“We know from a lot of the literature that’s out there that there are a lot of foods that have positive effects on the brain, and so we’re excited to study this,” Singer said. “There aren’t a lot of clinical trials in this area for community members. People have said to us for years, ‘I have to go to Dallas. I have to go to Austin,’ but now we have it here. So, it’s really wonderful to be able to offer this.”
The trial is funded by the American Pecan Promotion Board. Shen said academic and industry collaborations such as this are valuable for sharing information.
“Academics can answer very specific scientific questions, but how can they disseminate those answers to the public?” Shen asked. “If the study can show a benefit to brain health, I believe the industries will do more promotion to deliver the results.”
Shen said she hopes this study can also raise awareness about the role of nutrition in health, especially in rural communities.
“I believe food is medicine; you can easily incorporate it into daily life, and it can work long-term,” Shen said. “I hope we can show that eating a healthy snack, like pecans, can help people better manage their health using a nutritional approach. This could provide more options for rural health populations who have limited resources sometimes.”
For more information, contact the Clinical Research Institute at 806.543.8994 or email ClinicalResearch@ttuhsc.edu.
Randomized controlled/clinical trial
People