Cashews’ nutritions and benefits

Cashews are a type of plant orginating from Brazil but now cultivated in various warm climates around the world. Cashews are sold both raw or roasted and salted or unsalted. In the first 9 months of 2022, cashew nut exports from Vietnam are estimated at 382 thousand tons, worth 2.29 billion USD. Up to now, Vietnam accounts for over 80% of the export market share of the world cashew industry. This is also a key export product of Vietnam’s agricultural products with a turnover above vegetables, rice, pepper… for many years.

Cashews have two main parts of nuts (aka raw cashews) and fruits which both have multiple uses such as cashew milk, cashew-based cheese and cashew-based cream sauces, sour cream and juice.

The topic writing gives information on the nutrional value of cashews and their possible health benefits in your diet.

According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) based on 1 ounce (28.35 grams) of raw cashews, about 18 whole cashews contains:

• 157 calories
• 56 grams (g) of carbohydrate
• 68 g of sugar
• 9 g of fiber
• 17 g of protein
• 43 g of total fat
• 10 milligrams (mg) of calcium
• 89 mg of iron
• 83 mg of magnesium
• 168 mg of phosphorus
• 187 mg of potassium
• 3 mg of sodium
• 64 mg of zinc

In particular, cashews are a source of protein and rich in monounsatured and polyunsaturated fats. Cashews may also help improve your overall health.

Cashews nuts are rich in nutrients which can provide you with many health benefits.

Cashew nuts can be eaten in many ways by many dishes from scrambled tofu, stir fries, soup, to salads and stews. Studies show that eating nuts may help maintain a healthy weight. They may do this by helping a person feel full and controll their weights effectively.

Most of nuts are likely to be beneficial for health, keeping a check on various ailments such as heart disease. Cashew nuts may help lower LDL and increase the carrying capacity for HDL which is responsible to absorb the cholesterol from the heart and take it to the liver where it can be broken down. Therefore, a low LDL to HDL ratio is typically viewed as a marker of good heart health.

Cashew nuts are rich in copper which plays an important role in the elimination of free radicals from the body and preventing anemia. Hence our diet should contain recommended quantity of copper and cashew nuts are good source.

The antioxidant pigment called Zea Xanthin in cashews can be absorted by our retina and forms a protective layer over our retina which prevents the harmful UV rays. Cashew oil derived from its nuts which is rich in selenium, zinc, magnesium, iron and phosphorous. The substances are good for your skin.

Cashews are a good source of fiber which helps prevent blood sugar spikes and which is believed to offer protection against type 2 diabetes. However, more researche is needed to examine the effects of cashew-rich diets in people with type 2 diabetes.