Cashews are bean-shaped nuts and come from tropical trees that are most commonly found in India and Brazil. Although cashews are considered nuts, botanically speaking they are actually the seeds of the tree.
However, they are a particularly rich plant food source with a number of important nutrients, and because of the specific taste (sweet and “full of flavor” due to the healthy fat content) and texture, cashews, aside from being healthy snacks, can easily be used in different ways and in different recipes.
They are quite difficult to produce, they come from very far away places and are therefore expensive. The fact is, however, that we should eat this type of food in very small quantities – approximately daily, as many grains as fit in the palm of our hand. Therefore, nuts are actually not such an expensive food.
Cashews, like other nuts, are a particularly rich source of energy (calories), mainly due to the healthy fats they contain, but they are also rich in a variety of micronutrients, which means they have a number of health benefits for our organism.
Rich source of nutrients and antioxidants.
Just 30g of cashews contain:
◦ 170 kcal
◦ 9 g carbohydrates, of which 1.75 g sugar and 1 g vegetable fiber
◦ 5.5 g protein
◦ 12.7 g fat
Micronutrients:
◦ 10 mg calcium
◦ 2 mg iron
◦ 85 mg magnesium
◦ 170 mg phosphorus
◦ 190 mg potassium
◦ 3 mg sodium
◦ 630 µg copper
◦ 1.7 mg zinc
◦ Vitamin B1: 10% of the recommended daily value
◦ Vitamin K: 8% of the DV
It also contains slightly lower amounts of vitamin C, B6, B9, manganese, selenium, etc.
For example, cashews are particularly rich in healthy, i.e. unsaturated (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated) fats, have a low sugar content, sufficient plant fiber and contain proteins in almost the same amount as cooked meat. For these reasons, cashews are also used to make a delicious plant milk.
In addition, due to their rich mineral content, they are a good choice for bone health, the brain, the immune system, the skin, etc. Also cashews contains a number of phytochemicals, including antioxidants – polyphenols and carotenoids.
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