Cashews

Cashews nutritional benefits include bone health improvement and weight loss

Cashews

Cashews were first cultivated in Brazil, where Portuguese inhabitants discovered  them and brought them back to parts of India in 1560 and spread throughout Southeast Asia and eventually made their way to America and Africa. The Cashew tree is now widely grown in tropical regions around the world, especially in parts of India, Vietnam, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Indonesia. The Cashew derives from the Portuguese word for the fruit of the Cashew tree, Caju which translates in Portuguese to “nut that produces itself”.

Cashews nutrition supports healthy skin as it has high source of copper, which helps with the production of the skin and hair pigment called melanin, as well as a formation of collagen, which supports skin’s elasticity and defences against aging. Cashews are also rich in unsaturated fats in the form of monounsaturated fatty acids ( MUFAs that contain oleic acid) plus  a smaller proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAS mostly in the form of linoleic acid. Cashews  can help lower LDL cholesterol the dangerous kind and improve HDL  cholesterol the good kind and contain phytosterol compounds, which play an important structural role in cell membranes where they  stabilize cells and interfere with cholesterol absorption. This is responsible for their cholesterol-lowering abilities and may be able to help prevent the formation of plaque within artery walls. They are also associated with lowered triglyceride levels and reduced levels of inflammation which could help protect you from heart diseases and stroke. It also  help to prevent gallstones associated with healthy cholesterol levels. Normally your liver doesn’t secrete a high enough amount of Cholesterol to harden and form stones,  but when liver health is poor, cholesterol can essentially act like glue, hardening and binding together with other substances like calcium inside the gallbladder. Cashews also have 46 percent fat but as they are very nutrient dense and provided a lot of important minerals and fatty acids that support weight loss and have 25 percent amino acids, which is a precursor of nitric oxide known to improve vascular reactivity and circulation. Improved blood flow helps draw toxins out from the digestive system and can add improved metabolism, higher energy and better digestive health. Cashews nutrition benefits include bone health improvement due to the presence of calcium, magnesium and potassium together with low sodium intake and prevent Vitamin K deficiency. Vitamin K works with other essential minerals like calcium to support bone mineralisation and maintain bone mineral density which can help protect you from bone fractures and osteoporosis. Cashews fight rapid changes in blood sugar and hypoglcycemia, trigger of migraines.