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Note: Organic products can naturally attract bugs. To keep them away, tightly seal the jar after use and keep it in a cold, dry place.
Cashews are a kidney-shaped seed sourced from the cashew tree β a tropical tree native to Brazil but now cultivated in various warm climates across the world.
Although commonly referred to as tree nuts, and nutritionally comparable to them, cashews are really seeds. Theyβre rich in nutrients and beneficial plant compounds and make for easy addition to many dishes.
Like most nuts, cashews may also help improve your overall health. Theyβve been linked to benefits like weight loss, improved blood sugar control, and a healthier heart.
Cashews are rich in a range of nutrients. One ounce (28 grams) of unroasted, unsalted cashews provides you with around:
Cashews are especially rich in unsaturated fats β a category of fats linked to a lower risk of premature death and heart disease.
Theyβre also low in sugar, a source of fibre, and contain almost the same amount of protein as an equivalent quantity of cooked meat.
In addition, cashews contain a significant amount of copper, a mineral essential for energy production, healthy brain development, and a strong immune system. Theyβre also a great source of magnesium and manganese, nutrients important for bone health. Cashews are low in sugar and rich in fibre, heart-healthy fats, and plant protein. Theyβre also a good source of copper, magnesium, and manganese β nutrients important for energy production, brain health, immunity, and bone health.
Nuts and seeds are considered antioxidant powerhouses, and cashews are no exception.
Antioxidants are beneficial to plant compounds that keep your body healthy by neutralizing damage-causing molecules known as free radicals. In turn, this helps reduce inflammation and increases your bodyβs ability to stay healthy and free from disease. Cashews are a rich source of polyphenols and carotenoids β two classes of antioxidants also found in other tree nuts. Studies link antioxidants in nuts like walnuts, pecans, and almonds to lower levels of oxidative cell damage.
Due to their similar antioxidant profile, cashews may be expected to offer similar oxidation-fighting benefits. This may be particularly true of roasted cashews, which appear to have an increased antioxidant activity compared with their raw counterparts. That said, the number of cashew-specific studies are limited and more research is needed before strong conclusions can be made. Cashews are rich in carotenoids and polyphenols, two categories of antioxidants that may help reduce inflammation and offer protection from disease. However, more cashew-specific research is needed.
Nuts are rich in calories and fat. Hence, people wishing to lose weight have traditionally been advised to limit the number of nuts in their diet. However, research is starting to link nut-rich diets to greater weight loss and overall lower body weights than nut-free diets. This may in part be explained by the fact that cashews appear to provide the body with fewer calories than once thought.
According to the FoodData Central database of the Unites States Department of Agriculture (USDA), cashews provide 157 calories per 1-ounce (28-gram) serving. However, recent research suggests that the human body may only digest and absorb around 84% of these calories. This is likely because a portion of the fat they contain remains trapped within the cashewβs fibrous wall rather than being absorbed during digestion.
On the other hand, roasting or grinding nuts may increase your bodyβs ability to fully digest them, thereby increasing the number of calories absorbed.
As a result, weight loss benefits may be strongest for whole, raw cashews, although more research is needed to confirm this. And you may be sacrificing the antioxidant benefit that comes with roasting cashews.
In addition to providing fewer calories than expected, nuts are also rich in protein and fibre, which are known to reduce hunger and promote feelings of fullness, both of which can further promote weight loss. Cashews appear to provide fewer calories than once thought. Their rich fibre and protein content can help reduce hunger and increase feeling full. Put together, all of these factors may help you lose excess weight.
Diets rich in nuts, including cashews, have been consistently linked to a lower risk of diseases, such as stroke and heart disease. A few studies have focused on the specific heart health benefits of cashews. One found that people with type 2 diabetes who consumed 10% of their daily calories from cashews had lower LDL (bad) cholesterol to HDL (good) cholesterol ratios than those who ate no cashews at all.
However, a recent review shows conflicting results. One of the included studies suggests that regular intake of cashews may lower blood pressure and triglyceride levels. However, it finds no effect on total, LDL, or HDL cholesterol levels.
Similarly, another review failed to find any significant changes in cholesterol or triglyceride levels following the consumption of 1β3.8 ounces (28β108 grams) of cashews per day for 4β12 weeks.
Researchers suggest that these inconsistent results may be due to the limited number of studies and their small participant sizes. They conclude that although cashews are just as likely to benefit heart health as other nuts, more research is needed to confirm this. There also may be differences based on whether participants in these studies replaced more unhealthy snacks with cashews or just added cashews to their current eating patterns. Nut-rich diets are consistently shown to be beneficial to heart health. Cashews appear to offer some benefits to lower blood pressure, triglycerides, and cholesterol. However, more studies are needed before strong conclusions can be made.
Cashews are rich in fibre, protein, and healthy fats. They also contain a variety of vitamins, minerals, and health-protective beneficial plant compounds.
Similarly to nuts, cashews may promote weight loss, blood sugar control, and heart health. However, thereβs less research on cashews than on other nuts. Therefore, more cashew-specific studies are needed to confirm these benefits.That said, there are little downsides to adding more cashews to your diet. Just remember to pick unsalted dry roasted or raw varieties whenever possible.
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