Secret for academic success? Eat more pecans!

xiggi · 04-19-2011, 11:15 AM

Want to help that baby get a 2400/36 SAT/ACT?

Pecan prices soar on China's appetite | The Australian

Quote:

For generations, pecan prices have fallen with bumper crops and soared with lousy ones. But lately, they've only been going up. A pound (453.4 grams) of pecans in the shell fetched $US2.14 ($2.03) on average last year, according to the US Department of Agriculture, nearly double what they brought three years earlier.

The reason: The Chinese want our nuts.

Five years ago, China bought hardly any pecans. In 2009, China bought one-quarter of the US crop, and there's no sign demand is abating.

At a Carrefour store near Beijing's Sanyuan Bridge, Liu Wei, a 61-year-old retired chemistry teacher, is buying a 260-gram bag of Orchard Farmer US-grown pecans for 38 yuan ($US5.78). That's nearly six times Beijing's official minimum hourly wage. "We used to eat only walnuts, and then we saw on TV that pecans are more nutritious than walnuts," she says.

"Pecans are very good for the brain. We older people should eat more pecans so that we don't get Alzheimer's," Ms Liu adds. "My husband has cardiovascular disease, and Beijing TV said eating pecans can help." She has asked her pregnant daughter-in-law to eat two pecans a day because, she says, "pecans are very good for baby's brain development".

Nearly $US1 of every $US5 China spent on US items last year went to buy food of some sort, $US16.6 billion worth, according to the US Department of Commerce. US exports of goods of all sorts to China more than doubled between 2005 and 2010. Exports of crops and processed foods -- soybeans, dairy, rice, fruit juice -- more than tripled. Exports of pecans rose more than 20-fold.

cptofthehouse · 04-19-2011, 11:40 AM

Xiggi, you are nuts! : )

IJustDrive · 04-19-2011, 11:45 AM

I knew there was a reason I always put pecans in my brownies!

DrGoogle · 04-19-2011, 12:13 PM

Yeap, I ate a lot of nuts when I was pregnant with D2. From what I observe, D2 rarely gets sick and her brain power is better than D1 considering her birth circumstances. She has a lot more stamina.
My H& I eat a lot of walnuts now, almost daily. I now will switch to eating pecans! Hope to live till 100!

Kajon · 04-19-2011, 12:57 PM

It sounds great until you stop by the grocery store to pick up a pound. Yikes! I just grabbed a 1lb bag of pecan halves for my Mom and they were $11.99 a bag. There were some classified as "baking pecans" for $7.99/lb

researching4emb · 04-19-2011, 01:13 PM

Ah, but read carefully: "Two pecans a day." We Americans tend to overdo it. Eating that whole $11.99 bag of pecans in a day or two will put on the weight as fast as Ben & Jerry's.

megpmom · 04-19-2011, 01:29 PM

Hmmm....my family has been growing pecans for over 100 years. We eat them in almost everything. And if they have any influence on "brain power" I can only imagine how big of an idiot I would be without them. (No Harvard bound kids in our family!)

ellemenope · 04-19-2011, 01:33 PM

Is this another crazy Chinese herbal thing (I DON'T believe that eating male seahorses helps with virility) or is there some scientific backing that is reputable?

RacinReaver · 04-19-2011, 01:52 PM

Yep, eating pecans instead of a well balanced diet sounds like the perfect method for having genius kids.

vicariousparent · 04-19-2011, 01:57 PM

So we know now that sugar is a deadly toxin.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/ma...17Sugar-t.html

Do the pecans neutralize the toxicity of sugar in pecan pie?

midmo · 04-19-2011, 01:58 PM

Quote:

The reason: The Chinese want our nuts.

Well, let's send them over. I have a couple of CC regulars I would like to nominate.

intparent · 04-19-2011, 02:09 PM

R4emb, Ben & Jerry's makes a couple of flavors with pecans... I will take my two a day that way, please!

BunsenBurner · 04-19-2011, 02:33 PM

Fish has been considered "brain food"
Is Fish Really Brain Food?
I guess since eating fish in China now might present more health risks than benefits, the Chinese are switching to imported nuts.

SV2 · 04-19-2011, 02:50 PM

Quote:

They can cut your risk of heart attack and diabetes, ease stress, prevent Alzheimer’s disease, breast and prostate cancer, lower cholesterol, and might even improve your sex life. Pretty impressive.

Doesn't this thread belong in the Cafe, realllly.....

DrGoogle · 04-19-2011, 02:57 PM

For health purpose, I stay away from sugar of anykind. Most things end with -crose. Sugar is not only a zero food but it robs your body of essential vitamins. The nuts don't make me gain weight, it's the sugar. I've lost 2 sizes since eating nuts daily with minimal exercise.