(Cox News Service) -- For Thanksgiving dinner, Mary Pearson is going a little nuts.

Ambrosia with pecans, brown rice with pecans, sweet potato pecan souffle, dressing with pecans, green beans sprinkled with pecans and, of course, pecan pie.

Even the turkey, a free-range bird, was raised under the shade of pecan trees.

Did we say a little nuts?

Pearson and her husband, Al, own a pecan farm in Fort Valley, Ga. With an expected harvest of 750,000 pounds this fall, the farm makes it easy to work nuts into their diet year-round.

For the rest of us, indulging in all kinds of nuts is entwined with holiday tradition: spiced peanuts at open houses, green beans with toasted almonds, the slice of pecan pie that wraps up many a Thanksgiving meal. When New Year's rolls around and we tally up the holiday weight gain, nuts -- as laden with calories as they are intense flavor -- get some of the blame.

Yet an increasing number of nutritionists and physicians, armed with research showing that a moderate amount of nut consumption may prevent heart disease, say we shouldn't be so quick to classify them as a special-occasion indulgence food. They advocate working 5 ounces or so into our diet each week, cutting back calories in other foods to compensate.

The Pearsons have cut back on indulgences like pecan pie since Al was diagnosed with diabetes. Most of the year they consume pecans more moderately, mindful of its fat content and the need to control calories.

"We're eating everything more healthy," Mary Pearson says. "Instead of white rice with pecans, we're using brown rice with pecans. Instead of doing a lot of desserts with sugar in them, we have pecan turkey salad."

As medical authorities relax guidelines on dietary fat, they've acknowledged the heart-healthy effects of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats like those found in nuts, avocados, soybean oil and olive oil.

The National Academies' Institute of Medicine recently changed its recommendations on fat, saying a healthy diet could derive 20 percent to 35 percent of its calories from fat, rather than a previous suggested maximum of 30 percent. It stressed the importance of mono- and polyunsaturated fats, rather than artery-clogging saturated fats like those found in red meat and trans-fats found in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils used in many margarines and shortenings.

Nuts are also a good source of protein. Depending on the variety, they may be rich in vitamin E, fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium and other beneficial nutrients. That's true of peanuts, which are a legume, as well as tree nuts like walnuts and almonds.

Nutritionists recommend working nuts into meals, perhaps as an accent on a green salad, folded into bread batter or as a chopped topping for a Thai dish. Toasting nuts intensifies their flavor.

"It's very important to remember you shouldn't add nuts on top of the diet," says Frank Hu, an associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. "You should use nuts to substitute for other foods, for red meats, refined carbohydrates."

Hu worked on research based on the Nurses' Health Study that found women who ate an ounce of nuts more than five times a week, for 14 years, lowered their risk of heart disease by 30 percent. The study, funded by the federal government's National Institutes of Health, examined the diet and health of 86,000 nurses.

Other research, much of it funded by the nut industry, has produced similar findings. Stung by consumer worries over high-fat foods in the early 1990s, the industry began looking at ways to change that trend.

"Pecans have so much fat in them that people were afraid to eat them if they were on a healthy diet," says Buddy Leger, chairman of the Georgia Pecan Commission. "(There was) nothing out there to tell them it's good fat, and you need to eat them."

Besides funding ongoing research into potential health benefits, the industry introduced new products. Blue Diamond Growers' Almond Toppers, with flavors such as ranch and spicy Sichuan, can be sprinkled on salads or casseroles. Diamond of California's glazed walnuts, with sweet flavorings like apple cinnamon and pecan pie, can top desserts or be eaten out of hand. Ground walnuts, sold by the bag, can cut prep time when making pesto or flourless cakes. Pearson Farms introduced a spicy pecan to its gift baskets this fall.

Snacking is still Americans' favorite way to eat nuts. That worries nutritionists, who recognize the health benefits but know that it's tough to stop at just a handful.

"Most of the studies have found that if you eat an ounce two to four times a week, you have lower risks of cardiovascular disease," says Chris Rosenbloom, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. "But Americans are likely to take a pound bag of peanuts to the ballgame and eat the whole thing."

She recommends measuring out an ounce of nuts in a shot glass to prevent overeating. Pouring it into a plastic bag and taking that to work, rather than a can of nuts, can stop absent-minded nibbling. So can setting out nuts in the shell for holiday gatherings; more work, less eating.

Going a little nuts, it turns out, may be the best approach.

Copyright 2002 Cox News Service. All rights reserved.