Quick Read
Cashews are very tasty and crunchy nuts. Cashew nuts can be used in fruit salads, vegetable salads, smoothies, cakes, ice creams and gravy curries. Roasted cashew nuts are good snacks for kids. Cashew nuts have so many health benefits. Cashew nut is packed with energy, antioxidants, minerals and vitamins that are essential for robust health.
Cashew contains healthy monounsaturated fat that promotes good cardiovascular health, because monounsaturated fats reduce high triglyceride levels which are associated with increased risk for heart disease. Cashew has high energy density and high level of the dietary fibers, both of which aids to the weight management when eaten in limit. It is an excellent dry fruit for the pregnant women, if she is not allergic to it. It acts as an instant energy booster, make them feel fuller for long and best snacks in between the meals. It is one of the most beneficial dry fruits for children of growing age. It enhances the growth and development of the bones, teeth, brain, hair, skin and etc body part as they need more calcium, vitamins, minerals, proteins and calorie than other age group people.
1. Good for heart:-
They are rich in “heart-friendly” monounsaturated-fatty acids like oleic, and palmitoleic acids. These essential fatty acids help lower harmful LDL-cholesterol while increasing good HDL cholesterol in the blood. Research studies suggest that Mediterranean diet which is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids help to prevent coronary artery disease and strokes by favoring healthy blood lipid profile. Our body needs nutrients from all food groups including fats; all you need to do is get it from good sources like cashew instead of unhealthy ones. Here’s why you should take the natural route to heart health.
2. Good source of vitamins and minerals
Cashew nuts are abundant sources of essential minerals. Minerals, especially manganese, potassium, copper, iron, magnesium, zinc, and selenium are concentrated in these nuts. A handful of cashew nuts a day in the diet would provide enough of these minerals and may help prevent deficiency diseases.
Cashews are also good in many essential vitamins such as pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), riboflavin, and thiamin (vitamin B-1). 100 g nuts provide 0.147 mg or 32% of daily-recommended levels of pyridoxine. Pyridoxine reduces the risk of homocystinuria, and sideroblastic anemia. Niacin helps prevent “pellagra” or dermatitis. Additionally, these vitamins are essential for metabolism of protein, fat, and carbohydrates at the cellular level.
3. Plays a key role in numerous body functions
As cashew nuts are packed with high copper content, they play an important role in enzyme activity, hormone production and brain function. Apart from this, they also help in the production of red blood cells and thus, prevent anemia.
Given the fact that cashew nuts are high in calories, numerous questions might be going in your head at this point of time.
4. Help Prevent Gallstones
Twenty years of dietary data collected on 80,000 women from the Nurses’ Health Study shows that women who eat least 1 ounce of nuts, peanuts or peanut butter each week have a 25% lower risk of developing gallstones. Since 1 ounce is only 28.6 nuts or about 2 tablespoons of nut butter, preventing gallbladder disease may be as easy as packing one cashew butter and jelly sandwich (be sure to use whole wheat bread for its fiber, vitamins and minerals) for lunch each week, having a handful of cashews as an afternoon pick me up, or tossing some cashews on your oatmeal or salad.
Cashews are high in calories. 100 g of nuts provide 553 calories. They are packed with soluble dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals and numerous health-promoting phyto-chemicals that help protect from diseases and cancers.
5. Healthy Nerves:
Magnesium is stored on the bones surface which prevents calcium from entering the nerve cells and thus keeps the blood vessels and muscles relaxed. Insufficient amount of magnesium can lead calcium to enter the blood vessels leading them to contract. It also leads to high blood pressure, migraine headache etc.
6. Eating Nuts Lowers Risk of Weight Gain
Although nuts are known to provide a variety of cardio-protective benefits, many avoid them for fear of weight gain. A prospective study published in the journal Obesity shows such fears are groundless. In fact, people who eat nuts at least twice a week are much less likely to gain weight than those who almost never eat nuts.
7. Healthy Gums and Teeth
The magnesium content present in cashew nuts is very good for bones. So it gives healthy teeth as well as strong gums to hold them
8. Benefits of Cashew Nuts for Women after Menopause
Prepares Body to Fight Menopausal Symptoms
- Cashew nuts are considered as the sleep inducer and stress reliever. It helps women after their menopause stage by enhancing the relaxed and pleasant sleep during night time thus releases stress level among women in old age. After menopause, these cashew nuts can give you relaxed and pleasant sleep during nights
9. Prevents colon cancer:-
Another ingredient in cashews is proanthocyanidins, which contain flavanols that inhibit the ability of cancer cells to divide and multiply, reducing incidences of colon cancer.
10. Improves Hair Growth
- It has an important mineral called Copper which helps hair to maintain their brightness, strong and black color.
Provides Natural Color to Hair
- Copper found in it acts as an essential component for many enzymes. Tyrosinase is a enzyme having copper helps in converting tyrosine to the melanin (a pigment providing color to the hair and skin
How to Select and Store Cashew nuts?
Cashews are generally available in prepackaged containers as well as bulk bins. Just as with any other food that you may purchase in the bulk section, make sure that the bins containing the cashews are covered and that the store has a good product turnover so as to ensure its maximal freshness. Whether purchasing cashews in bulk or in a packaged container, make sure that there is no evidence of moisture or insect damage and that they are not shriveled. If it is possible to smell the cashews, do so in order to ensure that they are not rancid.
Due to their high content of oleic acid, cashews are more stable than most other nuts but should still be stored in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator, where they will keep for about six months, or in the freezer, where they will keep for about one year. Cashew butter should always be refrigerated once it is opened.
