Thank God it's Friday again. This is a continuation of our nut craze, I guess we should just make the month of November our 'go nuts for nuts' month. Last week I told you guys all about the amazing peanut which happens to be more of a legume than a nut and this week we're turning up with Cashew nuts, whoop! Whoop!! Most of the time we eat nuts as food snacks and sometimes chefs add it to food to enhance the texture, flavour or presentation of a dish, nuts are verstaile like that but whether it is eaten as a snack or used to enhance a dish, it is packed with nutrients. I especially like it in salads and desserts, the crunch keeps the food interesting. As usual I'll begin with a little history lesson. So sit back and let me school you a little.
CASHEW NUT HISTORY 101
Cashew a.k.a Anacardium Occidentale (botanical name) but we'll just stick to the name cashew because these long names are just tiresome. It belongs to the family Anacadiacea which makes it a sibling to Poison Ivy, mango and pistachio (one of my favourite nuts). It was originally introduced into India by the Portuguese in the 16th century. Cashew originated in Brazil but India is currently the world's largest exporter and consumer of cashew nuts, followed by Nigeria, although in 2010 Nigeria ranked higher than India in consumption and exportation of these nuts.
Unlike most fruits where the seed is found inside the flesh, cashew seed hangs from the cashew apple (the juicy delicious, yellow or red fruit). The cashew apple is only available to those who grow the plant because it is much too perishable to bring to the market. Cashew apples begin to ferment as soon as they are picked and will barely last 24 hours. I'm sure if it had the shelf life of apples and other fruits it will be more commercially relevant than the it's nut because I think cashew apple is one of the most delicious fruits in the world. I'll choose it over an apple or strawberry any day.
The kidney shaped cashew nut is encased in a hard shell with two layers. In between these layers is a black substance called cardol, which is extremely caustic and can cause blistering of the skin upon contact. This substance is removed during the shelling process and is used in the making of such products as varnish, insecticides, paint and even rocket lubricant. For this primary reason cashews are never sold in their shells. I love eating cashews but the black substance in the shells scares the life out of me because my skin is very dear to me. In some rural areas in Nigeria, people use the black liquid substance or cardol to burn their names or their lover's names into their skin and when the burn heals it looks like a tatoo. Why on earth would I want my name tatooed on my body? Am I that self absorbed or am I planning to get hit in the head and forget my name? Having a lover's name tatooed on your body is just hilarious and to suffer such terrible burning pain from the cardol just to prove to someone how much I love them and that I'll never forget their name, makes it even more hilarious. A note saying I love you or flowers or dinner and a movie will do. Since it's the rural areas, cook a pot of soup with bush meat for the 'lover', that's expressive enough. The worse part is after the burn heals, tbe tatoo hardly looks like what it was intended to look like. Sometimes it looks like a bad bruise or a cockroach that is belly up and is wriggling it's legs trying to get back on it's feet or a disturbed ant trail, it's just ugly. I wouldn't advice anybody to do it but if you say you must then all I can say is more grease to your elbow.
So far cashew has become one of the world's most popular nuts. Cashew nuts are very popular in south east Asia cuisine and Indian cuisine to thicken water-based soups and to form a base of sauces for curries or some sweets. It is also used in powdered form in the preparation of several indian desserts. Cashew nuts taste better when roasted, infact I think all nuts taste better when roasted. So that's it for a brief history of cashews and cashew nuts, now for an even more interesting aspect; the health benefits.
HEALTH BENEFITS
A serving of cashew nuts which is about quarter of a cup has about 221 calories and healthy calories for that matter. Cashew nuts are rich in copper, phosphorus, manganese, magnesium and zinc.
- Heart Protective Monounsaturated Fats
Not only do cashew nuts have a lower fat content than most other nuts, approximately 82% of their fat is unsaturated fatty acids, plus about 66% of this unsaturated fatty acid content is heart healthy monounsaturated fats. If I have to give an indepth explanation of why unsaturated fatty acids are good for you then we'll be talking a whole lot of biochemistry which I find interesting and you'll probably find boring. So all you need to know is unsaturated fatty acids or cholesterol are good for you and saturated fatty acids or cholesterol are bad for you. The monounsaturated fat in cashew nuts is similar to those found in olive oil. Studies of diabetic patients show that monounsaturated fat, when added to low fat diet can help to reduce high triglyceride levels. Triglycerides are a form in which fats are carried in the blood and high triglyceride levels are associated with an increased risk of heart disease, so ensuring you have monounsaturated fats in your diet by enjoying cashew nuts is a good idea especially for persons with diabetes.
- Copper, The Defense Metal
Copper is an essential component of many enzymes. Copper plays a role in a wide range of physiological processes including iron utilization, eradication of free radicals, development of bones and connective tissue and the production of the skin and hair pigment called melanin. So for my dark skinned sisters who have refused to appreciate their beautiful ebony skin and have decided to use chemicals so they can be 'flourescent' in complexion, copper is one of the culprit behind your skin pigmentation but keep in mind that if you decide to deprive yourself of foods that contain copper then you also run the risk of having free radicals on rampage in your body since copper acts as antioxidant defenses, in addition to energy loss because copper is an essential component of an enzyme which plays a big role in energy production. You'll also suffer from stiff blood vessels, bones and joints since copper is necessary for the activity of an enzyme involved in cross-linking collagen and elastin, both of which provide the ground substance and flexibility in blood vessels, bones and joints. Low dietry intake of copper also increase the risk for colon cancer. So do yourself a favour and stay black, you're beautiful just the way you are.
- Cashews and Your Bones
It is common knowledge that calcium is necessary for strong bones but so also is magnesium and cashew nuts happen to be rich in magnesium. More than half of the magnesium in the human body is found in our bones. It helps give bones their physical structure. Magnesium also helps to balance calcium which helps to regulate nerve and muscle tone. In many nerve cells magnesium serves as nature's own calcium channel blocker preventing calcium from rushing into nerve cells and activating the nerve. By blocking calcium's entry, magnesium keeps our nerves relaxed. If our diet provides us with too little magnesium, however, calcium can gain free entry, and the nerve cell can be overactivated. That can't be good. Insufficient magnesium can contribute to high blood pressure, muscle spasms, fatigue and migrain. Studies have shown that magnesium helps reduce the frequency of migrain attacks lowers blood pressure, helps prevent heart attacks, promotes normal sleep pattern in women suffering from menopausal sleep disturbances, and reduces the severity of asthma.
In conclusion, cashew nuts are simply the bomb. Staying healthy isn't so hard if we would just eat right. So let's keep eating clean, stay healthy and alive unless you're some sort of terrorist then we don't need you to be healthy or alive. Till next week, have a blessed weekend.
More cashews for me then...lovely piece!
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