By Sandy Desiré Crucic
Special to CSMS Magazine
The delicately flavored nut meal snack that is favored by people of all ages is the Cashew nut. Cashew nut is a kidney-shaped seed found inside the Cashew apple, which is grown in the coastal areas of northern Brazil and the Caribbean. Cashews are always sold shelled because the interior of the shell contains the cashew balm, which must carefully be removed before the nut is fitted for consumption because it is used for varnishes and insecticides.
Cashews have a lower fat level than most nuts because about seventy five percent of the fat is unsaturated fatty acids and about seventy percent of unsaturated fatty acid contains the heart-healthy oleic acids. According to scientific researchers, eating cashews daily promote good cardiovascular health with people suffering from diabetes. According to a hospital study of diabetic patients, adding cashews to a low-fat diet can help reduce high triglyceride levels.
In addition, researchers from the British Journal of Health states that cashew nuts along with plant food have the highest total of antioxidant content and suggest that cashews may be the key to cardio-protective benefits. Furthermore, according to the Iowa’s women’s health study, risk of death from cardiovascular and coronary heart disease showed consistent reduction from patients increasing their cashew nut consumption and total death decreased ten to twenty percent by cashew nut intake once per week. More impressive about the cashew nuts is that according to the British Journal of Nutrition, people consuming cashew nuts at least four times a week showed a forty percent reduced risk of coronary heart disease compared to those who consumed no nuts at all in their daily diet.
A nutrient stored in cashew nuts that is good for you is copper because copper plays a huge role of the physiological processes inside your body such as iron utilization, elimination of free radicals, development of bone and connective tissue, and the production of the skin and hair pigment melanin. Copper is also necessary for the activity lysyl oxidase, an enzyme that is involved with cross-linking collagen and elastin, both of which provide the groundwork and flexibility of blood vessels, bones, and joints.
Cashew can also lower the risk of weight gain. According to a study in the magazine journal Obesity, people who eat cashew nuts at least twice a week are much less likely to gain weight than those who never eat nuts at all.
Another tip about cashew nuts is that they can also prevent gallstones in women. According to the study in Nurses health journal, women who eat at least one ounce of cashew nuts daily have at least twenty five percent lower risk of developing gallstones and gallbladder disease. It is being encouraged to have it for lunch and as a midday snack while you are at school or work. That way, you can insure that your daily intake is secured.
Note: Sandy Desiré Crucic is a nutritionist who lives and works in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Also see Peach: The Healthy Persian Fruit
Watermelon: nature’s healthiest fruit
Avocados: nature’s health conscience fruit
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