Recruiting

Pecan Nuts

Sponsor:

UCLA

Code:

NCT07227259

Conditions

Healthy Adults

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 45 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

pecan nut

Study Details

Brief summary:

The main goal of this clinical study is to see if consuming pecan nuts will result in improvements in overall body metabolism such as in blood lipids, markers of inflammation, blood pressure, cognitive performance and changes in bacteria living in the gut in adults 45 to 75 years of age.

Participants will take part in two 3-month intervention periods, separated by 4-6 weeks, in random order ( a total of approximately 7 months). During one intervention period, they will include pecan nuts in their diet each day, while during the other intervention period they will avoid pecans in their diet. There will be an initial screening visit to evaluate eligibility and four study visits to the clinic.

Participants will be asked to complete some questionnaires about their diet, physical and cognitive health, and provide blood and stool samples, and have their blood pressure measured.

Conditions

Healthy Adults

Study ID

NCT07227259

Start date

Nov 15, 2025

Status verified date

Feb, 2026

Completion date

Dec, 2027

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Dec, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 45 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

BMI of 20-35 kg/m2, ability to understand the intervention instructions, Willingness to follow the dietary intervention, Willingness to provide biological samples (blood and stool) -

Exclusion Criteria:

Allergy to pecan or other nuts, Cognitive impairment due to dementia of any type and inability to understand or comply with intervention instructions, Use of menopausal hormone replacement therapy, Use of antibiotics or probiotics in the 2 months prior to enrollment, Uncontrolled diabetes with HbA1C of >9.5, Vegetarian/vegan, Any serious medical condition (such as chronic kidney disease of stage 3 or greater, heart failure, active cancer treatment, inflammatory bowel disease, etc.), Consumption of supplements that may interfere with vascular response or gut microbiome, Use of statin drugs for cholesterol lowering.

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Study Design

Enrollment

40 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Crossover

Primary purpose

Prevention

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Pecan nut then no nut

Participant will add pecan nuts to their diet during the first intervention arm, then they will cross over to the no nut diet arm

experimental: No nut then pecan nut

Participant will consume a diet without nuts during the first intervention arm, then they will cross over to the arm where they will add pecan nuts to their diet.

Interventions

pecan nut

Dose - 2 ounces of pecan nuts, daily

Primary outcome measure

  • Change in vascular response at 3 months [ Time Frame: Change from baseline at 3 months ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Francene Steinberg, PhD

530-752-0160fmsteinberg@ucdavis.edu

Locations

Ragle Human Nutrition Center, UC Davis campus

Recruiting

Davis, California, United States, 95616

Contacts

Francene Steinberg, PhD

530-752-0160fmsteinberg@ucdavis.edu

More Information

Sponsor

University of California, Davis

Last update posted

Feb 24, 2026

Last verified

Feb, 2026

Keywords

  • pecan nut
  • cardiovascular
  • gut microbiome
  • cognitive

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of California, Davis on 2026-02-24.